Can a married person be called to be childless?

[beesilvan]

I am a practicing Catholic, married fourteen years. I know that some are called to vocations, some are called to married or single life – can one be called to childlessness? I understand that we must be open to the life that God gives us, but shouldn’t it be okay to be open to not being given children? I have no strong desire to have children, and indeed think I’d be a poor parent – does my lack of trying to have kids count as a sin? Even if I’ve prayed extensively and feel this is God’s plan for me?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

To be open to life does not mean that one must do everything possible within moral boundaries to have children. But neither should you be thinking that God has “called” you to be “childless.” All married people are called to create families, whether or not they are granted biological children of their own. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The gospel shows that physical sterility is not an absolute evil. Spouses who still suffer from infertility after exhausting legitimate medical procedures should unite themselves with the Lord’s cross, the source of all spiritual fecundity. They can give expression to their generosity by adopting abandoned children or performing demanding services for others (CCC 2379).

Again, this doesn’t mean that you must seek out all legitimate medical procedures for having children. It merely means that you and your spouse should be seeking to unite yourselves to the cross of Christ and living out your call to spiritual parenthood through service to others, while still remaining open to children of your own should God choose to gift you with them.