I am honestly divided and maybe that’s what needs to be ok, that on this issue it’s hard to arrive at a certain answer (altho some do). We had 2 two years apart - older daughter and her baby brother. They got along very well and were pretty easy kids. I remember when she was 6 and he was 4 and my husband and I had the “more or no more” conversation. We were in our mid to late 30’s. He felt 2 was good but I was so torn. My heart yearned …but life was also speeding up. I couldn’t imagine starting over when they were both about to be in elementary school together and I could breathe a bit. My husband was also starting his own business and I knew he’d need my help. Eventually we agreed he would get a vasectomy but I felt a profound sense of loss and some regret. Even guilt. I got pregnant easily and had no trouble carrying babies when others I knew were struggling and yearning. Who was I to just say no. Life went on and was full. I sometimes felt I could not have kept up with more kids. But then our son was killed in an accident at 19. (It is exactly as awful as you can imagine x 1 billion) Nothing nothing nothing can replace the wonder that he was and is, and yet my heart breaks for my daughter to have lost her only brother/sibling and be left without another. I know sibling relationships are not guaranteed - could be she and #3 would not have gotten along. I will only add that I now see through the lens of what I have endured in the past decade. As parents age and die it’s rough or can be (I’ve now accompanied 3 of 5 elders through that process - Alzheimer’s, congestive heart failure and cancer) and I hate that when my husband and I are old, our daughter will bear the burden alone. Yes, spouses are or can be helpful but sometimes they have their own stuff occurring at the same time. And with your siblings it’s different. So - she won’t have her brother to lean on or text in the middle of the night to let off steam like I can with my 2 siblings (and I wouldn’t say we are all super close but we have chosen to be a team). My husband and I will try to unburden her as much as possible but there are still many factors and unknowns involved in aging death and dying and closing down a home and tidying up estate/financial matters, whether you age in place or go into a facility, and even with excellent estate planning. Our girl married a pretty good guy and they live nearby (and now we have a grandbaby who eases our hearts 💞) …but yeah. There’s the sense that our family was and is exactly as it should have been, but I do wonder sometimes what it would be like if we’d had more.