Or vote for another political party, or change their religion, or have special needs, or .....it is not just that one thing that unconditionally love goes for

A proper hand shake at a proper social distance should be acceptable to most. I've shaken hands (?) with small children and they seemed to be pleased.

This should be way higher

And who gets to decide? Only if you are clever enough? Only if you are educated enough? Only if you have the correct views? Only if you belong to the correct party? This is arguing for eugenics. At some point people would put their own opinions as facts, and Jews, Gypsies and Disabled would be unable to procreate.

"Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they'll let any butt-reaming a*****e be a father."

All parents should have mandatory parenting courses

Yes! Like, if you have unhealed trauma and anger issues, don't have kids unless you first address these things in therapy. Otherwise, one way or another you'll take your anger on your helpless child. Nobody deserves that.

The fish & the tree. No method of testing works equally well & fair for all qualified test-takers.

Genuine question for those talking about the perpetuation of the human race in the comments. Why is it important? I do mean it genuinely, I personally don't think keeping our species going is particularly important, I also probably have a bit of a messed up perspective regarding consent and responsibility around having children. But I'm quite interested in what makes it so imperative for some people.

Let's start with not shaming people who don't want to be parents. Some of the worst parents are those who only had kids because they were pressured into doing so.

Sadly, too many times, it seems to be the pond-life that breed the most. That's why so many things in our lives are dumbed down.

Instructional classes.

100% agree. Mrs TriSec and I adopted. What we had to do to prove that we were "fit parents" should be required of everyone. Having sex and getting babies DOES NOT automatically make you qualified.

35 years ago, I left the hospital with a bouncing baby boy. I'd been taught how to bathe him in the sink, how to change his diaper, and the basics of breastfeeding. I well recall the absolute sheer terror when I put him in the crib when we got home. What the hey do I do with him now?! I would have welcomed a few basic parenting classes at least. There are folks reproducing out there that don't know the first thing about feeding their kids. Let's at least start with that.

But what do you do with people who accidentally get pregnant without passing the test? Forced adoption? Forced abortion? Make everyone 10 and older take birth control until they passed the exam? Very difficult to ethically enforce this.

YES

It should be a financial test. If you cant afford to provide for a kid you should not be allowed to have a kid. If you are on any form of gov aid you should not be allowed to have a kid

I know you mean well, but no.

Keanu said it best in "Parenthood": "... you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any b**t reaming a*****e be a father."

This statement should *not* need to exist. And everyone in the comments has a strong opinion - which is not surprising. Lets instead fight for higher standards of education, feeding children in school, paying a living wage, providing universal healthcare, making sure people are housed, providing postpartum support, early childhood education, etc. All of these are things that have a huge impact on family dynamics and child rearing.

I know a young couple ( in my family) who decided to have a baby. Everyone thought it was a terrible decision as they are very immature. I have a toddler and we were at the beach w/this couple, the father picked my toddler up, ran into the ocean almost waist level then just dropped her in! Luckily we ran after him and when I screamed that she couldn't swim he picked her up right away. He was very apologetic and explained that since I told him she was enrolled in swim classes he thought she would be ok to swim in THE OCEAN. She's 3, the stupidity made me terrified for their infant. TLDR. If you're confused as to why you shouldn't have thrown a toddler into the ocean you shouldn't be having kids. (Edit for spelling)

I agree but I don't know how you could truly regulate that. There are plenty of parents who should never have had kids but how do you tell ahead of time unless its an extreme case?

Test - maybe - but definitely parenting course and SERIOUS mental health therapy. If you have no issues therapy is just a chat session. Should not be a problem

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Oh but maybe i d be the end of our race

I witnessed endless scandals and domestic violence between my parents. I repeatedly saw how my father would threaten, insult and humiliate my mother. I grew up being convinced that this was normal in every family. Then, as a young adult, I spend a vacation in a friend's house. Her parents were so kind and respectful to each other. To me this was unreal, and I thought "they act it out so well. They surely must yell and insult each other when I'm not present". :(

A lot of creativity can stem from boredom.

Oooh, louder for those in the back. Many parents I know (including mine) are like: "I raised you, therefore you are my property and you must do what I say. Your opinions and feelings are irrelevant as long as you live under my roof. And be careful not to ever talk back to me, unless you wish to sleep outside in the street."

This. I finally matured to realise that babies and toddlers can't talk and became a lot more tolerant of crying. Unless they are being a cantankerous little barstard like the one on the tube last night...

Also girl dads who have a creepy almost incestuous possessiveness of their daughters virginity. I have daughters and they were both told the consequences of not being careful and how to watch out for themselves. Rarely, if ever do you see boys go through the same. Y’all just need to stop