Show caption Samuel: ‘Isn’t forcing a child into this world kidnapping and slavery?’ Photograph: Nihilanand/Facebook Pass notes Did you consent to being born? Why one man is suing his parents for giving birth to him Raphael Samuel, a 27-year-old antinatalist from Mumbai, believes it was wrong for his mother and father to create him without his consent Tue 5 Feb 2019 17.38 GMT Share on Facebook

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Name: Raphael Samuel.

Age: 27.

Appearance: Alive and regretting it.

Why? Because he didn’t ask to be born.

Neither did I, as it happens. No, but you probably aren’t planning to sue your parents for giving birth to you.

I am not. Is he? Well, he claims to be. According to reports, Samuel, from Mumbai, is a committed antinatalist.

What a coincidence. I hated those classes too. Antinatalism is a system of belief that holds that it is morally wrong for people to procreate, and a vast amount of human misery could be avoided by people simply not existing in the first place.

If nothing else, it sounds like a philosophical school with a self-limiting membership. It is actually a growing movement with adherents across the globe.

When you say “across the globe”, do you mean “on Facebook and YouTube?” Yes, but antinatalism has a long and respected pedigree: forms of it crop up in sects of Buddhism and Christianity, and more than one philosopher has argued that the optimal outcome for humanity is extinction.

All of which falls short of suing your parents for having you. Yes, that would appear to be Samuel’s unique contribution to the debate.

What is his thinking, exactly? “I love my parents,” he writes on Facebook, “and we have a great relationship, but they had me for their joy and their pleasure.”

Selfish bastards. Samuel apparently believes it was wrong for his parents to go ahead and create him without his consent.

They were hardly in a position to ask him for it. He was hardly in a position to give it.

Could they not seek some kind of retroactive planning permission for him? He doesn’t seem that inclined to compromise. He continues: “Isn’t forcing a child into this world and then forcing it to have a career kidnapping and slavery?”

On the one hand, that sounds absolutely bananas. On the other hand, my 15-year-old self would be 100% behind Samuel. He also writes: “The only reason your children are facing problems is because you had them.”

Oh my God – where was this guy when I failed all my O-levels? He wasn’t born yet.

Do say: “Dear Mum and Dad, Everything I am and everything I will ever be is thanks to you. See you in court.”