Is it best if parents have two children instead of just one?

The best number is whatever the parents decide. The birth of a child or lack thereof should never be a source of regret.

From an objective standpoint, nothing is as iffy and unpredictable as the future of a child. Someone is going to win the lottery or a Nobel prize. On the other hand the prisons and psycho wards are crammed with people, each of whom was once someone’s “darling baby boy”. The question of one or several children pales beside the question that REALLY matters, the one about the millions among us unfit for parenthood.

No one’s business but theirs.

I think it totally depends on the individuals and their wishes. As for me, I am very happy to have had siblings. Both my parents are dead now, and my siblings still being present is a constant blessing in my life.

I knew an only child who had a bunch of sons so they didn’t have to be onlys. I know another who bemoaned being born when his parents were in their 40s and being an only child who has exactly repeated that pattern himself (one child, born when he was older). So, it depends.

Two, it is so easy to spot people who were only children.

Better for the world in general if you just have one, or none. There are about 7.5 billion people in this world that can only really handle 500 million.

I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to say what’s “best” for another couple or single parent. Only the parent/parents can say for sure what is best, according to their situation(s) with work, finances, other siblings, health issues of family members, mental health issues of family members, etc.

How could anyone look at another couple (or single parent) and say “it would be best for you to have another child” or “it would be best for your child to be an only child?”

It was the best decision for us to have an only child.

A one child parent can rationalize many reasons for why having one kid is better. Same for the 2 child parent and on up. IMO the number of kids a parent has is meaningless if the kids turn out to be spoiled, bratty, lazy, mean and or anti-social.

Ask any parent and they will tell you they have the best kid(s) in the world and I guarantee you that in many cases there will be a teacher of those kids that would argue otherwise.

For the human race to continue, families must average over two children. Population-wise, two children replace two parents. Since at least some of those children will not themselves reproduce, to maintain the population some people need to have more than two children. In the short term, it might be a good idea to reduce population, but in the long term an average of over two is necessary. It is therefore a good thing that, either through planning or by accident, some families have two or more children.

Best for whom, the parents, the children, society, the human race? I had two “only” children, both boys. My first child was by my first husband ( I have no idea how many other children he may have had) and my second was by my third husband, sixteen years later.. My second husband never had any children.

In my opinion, it is easier on the parents to have only one child (at a time). My sons both felt that being an only was not good for them, and therefore they had three and two, each.

There is no answer to your question. Every family situation is unique.