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By Nina Steele

The one thing I am getting from some of the interviews given by 40 year old professional wrestler and actor John Cena, is that, he understands the enormity of the challenge that comes with having kids. In one of those interviews he gave recently to Australia’s Stellar magazine, John said this about children and why he is choosing not to procreate: “Speak to anyone and they’ll tell you two things: it’s the greatest thing that will ever happen to you, and it completely changes your life. Because you are now responsible for the wellbeing of a being trying to figure out life. If I can’t do that correctly, or give the amount of time needed to do that correctly, then I wouldn’t want to put somebody through that”. I wish the majority of people would give the subject that much thought before taking the plunge. Sadly, most don’t.

Because John had previously said he would never marry again, following a bitter divorce from his first wife, and then changed his mind (he is engaged to fellow wrestler Nikki Bella), he was asked in another interview whether he would now also reconsider his decision not to have children. To that he said: “No, right now it hasn’t changed. I can barely raise myself, so I just don’t know how good a dad I’ll be. I guess that’s my biggest fear. I know it’s a natural human progression to want to have kids, but right now, I’m just focused on what’s in front of me.”

Luckily for him, his fiancée (they have been together since 2012 and engaged since April 2017) is supportive of his decision. When asked her views on the subject she said: “John had mentioned this a long time ago when he wanted to get married. He said, ‘I just don’t want you to ever think that if I want to marry you and I marry you that means that I want to be a father’”. Talking of being straightforward in your relationship! She went on to say: “And I told him, ‘I 100 percent agree. I know that no matter what, you don’t want to be a dad’”.

That John Cena is an ambassador for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a children’s charity, is not lost on some of the people questioning his choice not to procreate. That’s because there is often an automatic assumption that anyone who chooses not to procreate, does not like kids. Of course this may be true for some people. But Just like John Cena, many people who choose not to procreate, enjoy the company of children and are happy to play whatever part they can in their lives.

It’s one thing playing a peripheral role in a child’s life as a non-parent and a completely different story having to raise and care for a child for those choosing the path of parenthood.