Just like the people making 125k but refusing to leave an expensive city are "forced" to live paycheck to paycheck.

You could argue ANYONE making 100k is "choosing" to live paycheck to paycheck.. they could move to Thailand and live comfortably for $1500/month, but they _choose_ to only live in countries where they don't have to learn another language, or leave their family... So we're arguing over what people can reasonably expect from life, and for many, a kid is in that just as much as living in a city.

If we NATURALLY had a kid, most people would argue that $1,500-2,000/month in daycare costs is a forced expense, but because we have not been successful naturally have kids, $1,500-2,000/month to have a kid we want is a choice?