A macabre community is thriving on Reddit, united by one core feeling: massive regret over having brought children into the world.
The community, called r/RegretfulParents, is basically an anonymous forum for remorseful moms and dads to vent their darkest frustrations.
It bills itself as a “safe place for parents who think they shouldn’t have become parents to rant, confess, and get things off their chest about their kids, partners, families, etc,” safeguarded by a critical rule: “no judgment or bullying allowed.”
A particularly grim motif is parents wishing they had a time machine so they could choose never to procreate. One such father lamented that he was never “brave enough to consider what I actually wanted,” and is now stuck with a family he wishes he could escape.
“If I break up this family for the sake of my own sanity and happiness, I’ll just become the bad guy I’m so afraid of being,” the poster wrote. “The only other option is a time machine so I can go and have a do-over of my life, and make better decisions.”
One recent post which received over 1,300 upvotes complained that “sometimes the mere fact that you had a child completely damaged and changed your life for the worst.”
“The truth [is] that sometimes a child isn’t a blessing and they absolutely will destroy your life and world,” the Redditor said. “I think the sooner society can admit that, the more people will be prepared for parenthood.”
Of course, it’s easy to blame regretful parents for exercising poor judgement or rolling over when met with pressure to have a child — and there are plenty of parents on this forum whose motivations seem selfish. But with over 70,000 weekly visitors to the subreddit, the scope of the issue is clearly much broader.
Structurally, a constantly recurring complaint among regretful parents centers around finances. Whether parents are overworked, reeling from unexpected pregnancies, or struggling to find housing, the pangs of economic desperation form a throughline connecting many of the community’s seemingly disparate anxieties.
“I am a single mom with no help from anyone. And I live in a country with no benefits,” wrote a poster struggling to find work. “Yes, I know, I shouldn’t have had my kid, especially with my ex, but I thought I was sterile, I thought it was a sign from heaven… my life has gone downhill since I became a mother.”
Even in wealthier countries like the United States, having a child is a major financial liability. Per recent reporting by Fortune, the cost of raising one kid in the US has ballooned into a $300,000 financial commitment over 18 years, and the ongoing deterioration of public programs sure doesn’t help.
Case in point, the country’s largely privatized child care system now leaves over half of all American kids without sufficient access to daycare, while the share of US companies offering workers paid family leave fell to just 31 percent in 2025.
Combined with stagnant wages, rampant inflation, an unending housing crisis, and lack of affordable healthcare, it’s no wonder some parents feel they’d be better off without another mouth to feed — because as heartless as it sounds, they probably would be.
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