Who would you want fathering/mothering your babies?

[Mimmsicle]

[SIZE=1]Yes, what the title asks. If you could choose anyone to father/mother your babies, who would it be?
To try and prevent this thread from people simply listing their potential "mates", I will add some other things that one might add to the equation.

If I'm not mistaken, women who turn to sperm donors * have the ability to check the donors physical history (though I'm not sure if you're informed of their mental history). Is that something you would think about or would you strictly go for superficial things (such as height, looks, etc) and not be concerned about eventual hereditary family illnesses?

Is their culture an important factor? (Note that I'm not saying religion here, people.) Because if you are to be raising the child(ren) together as well, is that something that would influence your choice? Or do you just want the person to aid you in the baby-making and then be on their way, caring for the child(ren) on your own or with someone else?


A whole other point that could be brought up in this particular case is how far you could take the whole process of having a baby, what with science having advanced so much in recent years. (By that I mean checking to see if the baby has certain genetic "errors", choosing what kind of attributes you want for your child, etc.) But mainly I'm asking how you would base your choice of who fathers/mothers your babies.


* Does anyone know if this goes for egg donors as well?[/SIZE]

[James]

[color=#334366]And here I was, thinking that you were going to ask me which OB member I'd want to mother my children. ~_^

It's probably best that I wasn't asked that question, I wouldn't want to cause any unwanted blushing. Or something.

Anyway, um...in terms of children, I'm really not thinking about it. If it happens one day, that would be nice, but I don't really have any particular ambitions for it. I come from a reasonably big family, with three younger siblings. And as a result of both parents (particularly my dad) being very busy people, I was often a kind of second father for them. So I have done plenty of diaper changing, had babies vomiting on me, bathing them, burping them, changing clothes, reading bed time stories, etc etc.

In other words, I already have some experience in parenting.

So I suppose that I'd want my partner to be someone who mostly agrees with my ideas about raising a child -- but having said that, I think that children tend to be influenced most by their parents anyway. So, if both parents are loving people who can set good examples through their own behavior (ie: by working hard, being kind and being responsible), I tend to feel that the children will often follow those traits.

In terms of things like religion, I wouldn't want to intoctrinate my kids. I'd simply let them choose when they are old enough. I wouldn't mind putting them through religious education (ie: if they are studying various religions -- or even just one), because if nothing else, I think it's worth knowing about these things. But I'd always trust their ability to make the decision; I don't regard it as my responsibility to tell them what they should do in that sense.

But yeah, I suppose it really depends. If I'm with someone who I care about and am in love with, chances are that we will already have generally similar philosophies on life in general -- so I wouldn't expect raising children to be a huge issue. But you never know. Sometimes people have very set beliefs on these matters and that can create tension in a relationship.[/color]

[future girl]

[size=1]Because all real [2] relationships I've ever been in have been somewhat serious I very rarely go into one without thinking what type of father this person would be. I don't want children as of now, but accidents happen and if they do I want to assure that my child will have the best life possible. I really don't have any criteria. Mostly I base it on how they interact with younger siblings or my nephews [who are the light of my eyes] for that matter. If it looks like they'll pay child support that's good enough :p I really figure that if I'm with a person I'd go this far with then I have nothing to worry about. I don't just sleep around anyway so yea, heh. I do know if I ever get pregnant it'll be an accident though. I just think it takes away from the entire experience to plan it out perfectly and I like to take things as they come, even if having a child would alter my life completely. I don't think I'll ever come to a point in my life where having a baby is the one thing that's left for me to feel fulfilled. Hopefully if I get pregnant I can call it a pleasant surprise, if I can't well o well ::shrugs:: If I ever really really really wanted a baby, I'd adopt if I can't birth it myself. I figure if I can't create one like god intended than maybe that's for a reason and who doesn't want a little asian baby?!?![/size]