I meant that quote to be tongue-in-cheek, and out of reality. Should’ve been a bit more clear, my bad.
When I was a kid, that’s how older people around me described what parenthood gives you (eternal happiness). Later on, as sad as it sounds, I realized that line can be used as a cope for people for whom parenthood didn’t work out for a lot of different reasons (loss of a child, kids not meeting your expectations, work stress, problems in your partnership, societal priorities and etc.). So you start weighing your risks, and some come to conclusion that having no children or just one is good enough.
Then again, you get “you’ll never know until you experience it!” statements, and that still doesn’t cut it. Because, it’s really, genuinely good enough for some people, since you avoided most of the risks and enjoyed your life. Also as childless/small families age, they become a proof of concept to others how you really don’t need 3+ children (basically a requirement to be at the replacement level of the society).
There’s also a huge underlying “everyone wants others to have children, but only care about their own children” issue. And as we’ve gotten more competitive in the society, the best way to play the game is not playing it. But that’s a different topic.
Sorry for being a bit of a downer, but we talk about this with my friends quite often (late 20s-30s groups). And that’s generally how everyone feels - both men and women.