Parenting for Freedom article series: This is the sixth in a series of articles that analyzes how freedom-loving people can align their parenting with their political philosophy, and how doing so will allow ideas about personal liberty to carry on to the next generation.

The best reason to have kids

This is my final article in a series about how parents can apply principles of freedom to raising their children. And I think it's a great chance to clarify my attitude toward parenting and children.

After reading my first article, which called parents' care of their children a "sentence," one commenter questioned my agenda. He asked whether what I really objected to was the continuation of the human race, since I talked about the creation of children as a "crime." But nothing could be farther from the truth.

As the mother of six children, I would never want to limit how many children someone else chose to have. I would never try to prevent people from having children at all.

For one thing, it would be awfully hypocritical of me. For another, trying to ban or limit a person's children is a grave violation of their rights. It is the stuff of coercive governments, like China's — and our own.

All adults should have the freedom to pursue parenting if they choose, either by trying to conceive a child or through adoption. (Still, no one is entitled to children).

But when it comes to why you want kids, some reasons are better than others. If you embrace the best reasons to have children, you'll have better parenting as a result. Your philosophy will guide your actions.

If you're a person who values freedom, your top reason for having kids should be to allow them to share in the joy of existence.

Why is this the best reason? Because it correctly orders the good of the child ahead of the parents or society. As I argued in my first article, children deserve positive rights from their parents. This is because the parents helped to create the children and because so much of kids' early life is out of their control. If the parents believed in this philosophy, all their actions would reflect this.

The parents would view long-term involvement as necessary for the children's survival. They would try to give their kids autonomy in the home and in their education as much as their ages allow. This would make up for how little children get to control other aspects of their lives.

Parents would try their best to give their children ever more freedom. In doing so, the kids' lives would transform into a life they chose for themselves — and thus, an existence that is joyful.