I guess it depends, I had to draw a family tree when I was at school, many years ago, and I stopped once I hit around fifty cousins.

So on the one hand I have a huge family, but on the other hand, the practical hand, most of those cousins I never met. I've heard their names, I've sometimes seen pictures of them, and family gossip means I generally know what is going on with them but that's all.

I think there were 3-5 cousins who were similarly aged to myself, and who I saw every week or two, or daily during summer holidays. But the rest? I'm not sure what people would be missing out on there ..

There are studies that show quote plainly that people with kids are unholier than those without. The difference is much later on life when the happiness “winner” switches to the group with children.

One theory aside from the obvious is that the brain makes sense of whatever might happen to it, over time. Like how you miss out on some big opportunity, but years later you say, “ah, that’s ok because it led me to where I am today.”

No idea if that was coherent as I’m a bit tired, but wanted to share