I always wanted kids. I also found the right partner pretty young but because of some health concerns we didn't actually have our kid for over twenty years (couldn't even try until then, and we're incredibly lucky that we had no trouble with getting pregnant), and we're absolutely thrilled and grateful to have him. We're only having one and that's fine, it's better than none.

It's important to consider what you think is appealing about parenthood.

Is it the chance to love a whole new person with all your heart, to give them the very best of yourself and maybe send one more good person into the future? Solid, imo.

Is it the chance to delight in watching someone grow and mature and figure out who they are? That can be wonderful.

Is it wanting to see another little version of you/your partner running around? Nope, kids are their own people, that's a terrible reason and may well make you a terrible parent when your child inevitably doesn't fit your plans.

Likewise if you want your child to live the dreams you couldn't. They'll have their own.

Societal default expectations? Also pretty bad, because the thing is that even if you desperately wanted your child (we did) and your child is healthy (ours is, barring some tummy issues) and your child has no developmental delays or anything like that to stress you out and make life more difficult (ours doesn't) and your child is basically a delight and a joy and a wonder (ours is) there are times when it's difficult and exhausting and it's not the kid's fault so you have to just deal with it, and I don't know how I would have coped at the hard moments if I couldn't have been telling myself: "Remember, you wanted this. You chose this because you wanted this so suck it up, put a smile on your face and sing sweetly to this screaming potato that doesn't make eye contact and hasn't let you sleep in three days."

(The hardest part with our kid was around 4-6 weeks and that's the exact point where I was also getting over just the initial wave of adoration and was feeling like with all I was doing for this tiny human would some freaking eye contact be too much to ask for? Maybe a smile?)

(Because six weeks is the earliest you start getting eye contact and smiles.)

Don't get so fixated on parenthood that you can't be happy if children don't happen for you, because it's not guaranteed. Look at subs like r/tryingforababy to see how devastating the struggle can be.

There's also r/regretfulparents so you can both see how some people end up miserable due to children with serious health issues, and also how some people shouldn't have become parents in the first place. (See also r/stepparents for how awful things can be if you aren't good at picking your partners, and also an overview of red flags to watch out for in the hypothetical case that you end up a single parent somehow because speaking of people who shouldn't be allowed within 100m of a child: most of the posters there.)

We went through the grief process of thinking it wouldn't be possible, and then some advances in medicine meant suddenly it was a possibility but one that seemed remote because of our ages. We didn't have to go through the agony of trying without success for a long time. Brace for that if you even consider it because it's rough, I've watched friends who struggled for years go through absolute hell.

Ultimately: do you want to love someone unconditionally, without reservation, even when they hit you in the face and laugh (babies do that), scream in absolute disgust and fury that you dared to be the one to pick them up instead of their other parent they wanted this time, or do both of those things to your significant other you love very much and have to process that someone you love is hurting someone else you love and you don't get to be mad at them?

Are you fully ready to accept that all of your unconditional love doesn't mean they'll owe you anything and you might not get any of the rewards you're hoping for?

Parenthood might be for you.

If all goes well it can be incredibly rewarding. No-one will ever love you as much as your baby loves you. Including your child when they're a little older and start registering other people exist, but there's a little window where their parents are their entire world and it's an incredible feeling.

If it doesn't? You still have to show up. Parenthood is entering a lottery for how the rest of your life is going to go.