To the Editor:7xm
Re “Sunset Years in Silent Houses: The Despair of No Grandchildren” (front page, Nov. 12):
I appreciated Catherine Pearson’s reporting on people’s feelings about not becoming grandparents, but I have an important contrasting perspective. I am a 68-year-old woman whose two children plan not to have children. I approve, and I am relieved.
As a geologist, I know that climate change is real, human-caused and accelerating. As an animal lover, I can’t look at a squirrel, bird or butterfly without knowing that all species, including ours, carry forever chemicals and nanoplastics in their bodies.
Thanks to my children’s decisions to remain child-free, I do not have to fear what another generation of my progeny would have to endure on this deteriorating planet.
I doubt that I am alone among elders. Rather than helping to raise grandchildren, I am spending my time volunteering in efforts to keep the planet habitable for future generations — other elders’ future generations.
Betsy MathiesonAlameda, Calif.
To the Editor:
One of the best lessons you learn when you are adopted is that anyone can become family if both parties make a commitment to care.
Adopted and raised by traditional Catholic parents, I do have a sense of responsibility to reproduce and expand the family. At the very least, I want to bring joy to my mother and father who, like those mentioned in your article, yearn for grandchildren.
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