'Mika, let me tell you something - I HAD one - it didn’t change MY mind. Don’t get me wrong - I think the sun rises and sets on Mini2U and am absolutely positive that he can do no wrong, however, when my brother had his baby, I didn’t even see it for the first year - I really don’t dig babies. Seriously. I don’t.
So you’re at least as normal as me.
Wait - I was supposed to be making you feel BETTER wasn’t I? 
Like others here, I love baby animals. And grown-up animals. I even like kids once they get to the housebroken/talking stage. As long as they’re well-trained. But I’ve had absolutely no desire to be pregnant or to hold babies or change diapers. At 46, I don’t think that desire’s going to suddenly happen.
I did briefly think about adopting or fostering a child, but I went to the pound and got another doberman instead. So much easier and cheaper!
StG
One thing I wonder about after reading this thread: what happens to women who resolutely do not want children, but have an accident and get pregnant anyway, and then for whatever reason forego an abortion and have the child anyway?
Does that old “No Kids – Ever!” feeling typically affect the mother-child bond or anything? I was over in The Pit reading Jodi’s thread about her “deadbeat mom” sister-in-law … and I got to thinking whether or not that woman wanted kids beforehand (and if so, for the right reasons).
Don’t get me wrong – I full well know that wanting kids doesn’t ensure great parenthood. But I’m interested in the opposite case: how does decisively not wanting kids affect parenthood?
(bolding mine)
I think I’m in love! 
I don’t think it makes any difference either way. I know a few folks who had ‘oops’ pregnancies when they really hadn’t ever wanted kids, and they are neither better nor worse than any other parent. Nature has biological mechanisms in place to ensure that parents (or mothers, at least) bond with their kids. That doesn’t always happen, of course, but it isn’t something you have an intellectual capacity to control, so people who hadn’t planned on having kids can and do still love their kids just as much as anyone who did plan them, so the initial motivation to take care of them is there, in most cases at least.
I’ve also known parents who wanted kids and then resented their existence because they really didn’t know beforehand exactly how overwhelmingly being a parent changes your life.
I think whether kids are the recipients of good parenting or not depends a lot on how willing the parent is to shoulder the responsibility. Being willing to take on responsibility in general - even if it is something you didn’t particularly want - is a lot of what makes a good or bad parent (and a good or lousy adult, too).
I like children, but not babies. I want kids, but I sometimes wish I could adopt them at age two or so and skip the baby phase instead of having biological kids.
I am not a female but I do think this lemming-like reproductive rush needs to be put in perspective. Reproduction is a biological urge. So is sex, so is taking a dump, so is aggression, so is eating, among many others. Of these, only reproduction is exalted to a state of divinity. Why? It’s not that giving birth is divine, it’s that sacrificing your whole life for someone else is deeply admirable. Or half admirable, since they’re carrying half your genes and you therefore have a vested genetic interest.
My point is, we have no obligation to be constant slave to whatever biological urge happens to be fucking with our mind at any moment. That’s what makes us different from animals. I respect those who thoughtfully and responsibly choose to be parents, I will even be part of the village who helps raise the little sprogs. I may have my own someday. But I don’t see why anyone needs to cede their whole life and identity to some biological urge, and I don’t see anything wrong with someone who does not feel that pull at all.
I always thought it would be better if children could start out as kittens, then puppies, then toddlers, then well-adjusted adults (preferably unmarried) with good incomes and spacious in-law suites.
It’s to be hoped that she says “get back to work” when they stand around talking about other things too. IOW, a certain amount of socializing is part of any job and the subject (within appropriateness limits) shouldn’t matter.
I am someone who coos over babies, but to each his own. I’ve been waiting for months to meet this kid, and the mom’s having complications…I’ll be happy happy to finally meet him!
Socializing, yes. But nothing stops a day’s work faster than a baby, and it stops everyone at a time. When people socialize, it’s often one or two, and everybody else is working, but when the baby comes in, every female runs for the baby.
Oh no, I agree with the part about bringing the baby in. But if people happen to be talking babies as part of their normal socializing, it’s no different from sports, news, etc., as a topic.
It doesn’t sound like she asked you to hold him FOR her; I think she just thought maybe you’d like to hold him. I hold babies every chance I get. And I talk to them in the grocery store all the time. I love babies. Just love 'em!
It seems to me that liking babies is either a do or do not thing that is not likely to change over the course of one’s lifespan. Also some people love/hate sports, horses, chocolate, and camping. Again, not likely to change. So all the people out there trying to convince non-baby enthusiasts that they’ll change their minds when the ol’ clock starts ticking are wasting their breath.
I *am * one of the women that goes nuts over babies and ogles them in the mall and plays with them in line at the supermarket. Then again I always have been. I can’t remember a stage of my life when I wasn’t enamoured with them. Why? I don’t know, why do some people love dolphins?
Just the same I can understand and respect that some people aren’t into babies. I’m not into horses. To each his own.
What happens to mothers who have kids against their better judgement? In the case of my aunt, who was the oldest of nine and therefore tired of raising children before she even married, it’s not so good. She had two boys to satisfy her husband. They’ve grown into a mentally deficient delinquent and a drug dealing loser. You could argue nurture/nature, but I take it as a sure sign that people who don’t want kids should not have them. People who try to talk others into reproducing should spend some time with my cousins.
Count me in as another female who doesn’t care for babies. They’re just not cute to me.
What’s worse than babies at work? Baby pictures.
Just like the Force.
I always thought that it was easier to adopt older kids because most adoptive parents want an infant.
Anyway, count me in as another woman who is pretty much uninterested in babies other than her own.
I’m just the opposite. I don’t know how to interact with 5 year old kids. I only know how to have adult conversations. My language is peppered with sexual innuendo, Seinfeld/Simpsons references and profanity. I never know what to say to children.
With that said, I love interacting with my 17 month old. She may not get the Seinfeld and Simpsons references and I withhold the worst profanity from her, but the only way to make it through watching The Wiggles and The Doodlebops IS the sexual double entendre that my husband giggle about.
I get all ooey-gooey over other peoples’ babies, too, but when their 5 year old wants to talk to me, I get all confuzzled. I suppose I’ll learn how to do it, as my daughter gets older.
Before I (somewhat begrudgingly) got pregnant, I was almost afraid of babies. When I was pregnant, we would enter a baby department and I could only spend about 5 or 10 minutes there before I would start literally (yes, LITERALLY) hyperventilating! And that was just looking at the merchandise. One time, at Baby Depot (again, when I was pregnant), there was a red, screaming newborn in the same aisle and I turned right around and race-walked out. My husband said that the color drained from my face.
Annamika, Am I misremembering that you work (or worked) in a NICU? That would make this thread very funny! I could be thinking of another Doper.
Must add this term to my lexicon. 
ETA:
This one too!
Yeah, I’ve offended a few co-workers, and maybe even a friend or two because I didn’t immediately coo and giggle over their baby or ask if I can hold it. Bring them back when they’re around 4 or older, then I’m more interested in them. I love talking to little kids, but babies, meh!
That part resonated with me, I used to get that in my family all the time, to the point of getting eye-rolls and snide remarks from my SIL for not cooing over my nephew enough. Her technique backfired, I’ve since decided that I’m not going to use my nephew as a prop to prove myself to other people.
Advice to moms: the fastest way to make me not want to play with your kid is to tell me how much I’m supposed to love playing with your kid.