It being "worth it" is not really a given though. I'm also a parent and although I fully execute my duty to the best of my abilities in the interest of the chi

It being "worth it" is not really a given though. I'm also a parent and although I fully execute my duty to the best of my abilities in the interest of the child I never found it to be particularly advantageous position to be in. You're basically on-call constantly for an often rote and laborious task and there is no guarantee you're going to enjoy it. If you do it well nobody (except if you're very luck the child) gives a fuck and if you fail or have remarkably bad luck you end up in prison. I doubt I'm the only one that just tries to enjoy it to the extent to keep my sanity, for the same reason I would try to keep smiling while in prison. My personal advice is if someone has an enjoyable life now and don't absolutely have to have children, stop and think hard about the fact you may turn a lifestyle you enjoy into a responsibility you can't back out of.