Couples who identify as DINKs — Dual Income No Kids — are trending. Among them is a politician in Michigan who recently announced her sterilization.

Michigan state representative Laurie Pohutsky announced publicly that she was sterilized to avoid pregnancy for fear that Donald Trump would crack down on abortion even though Michigan passed a ballot initiative enshrining abortion in their constitution in 2022.

“I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate,” she announced. Twisted reasoning, indeed, to end her bloodline.

Pohutsky’s announcement puts her in league with the growing number of DINKs. While infertility brings heartache to many couples, selfishness is trending among DINKs who promote self-indulgence without children as their key to happiness.

I remember a time when touting self-absorption was anathema, but DINKs have clawed their way into cultural respectability. I came across the New York Times article “No Kids for Me, Thanks” and a Business Insider piece, “The Sweet, Sweet Life of America’s DINKS,” and cringed at the litany of reasons for such a choice. There are also books such as Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids. The title is a brag.

Some feign a false humility such as: “I don’t think I’d be a great mother,” and “I’m not convinced my genes are anything to wish on anyone.” The biggest reason DINKs give for not having children is to better enjoy earthly pleasures and freedom from the shackles of parenting.

I’d love for the DINKs to meet with mothers in the book Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth. Those mothers discovered — some unexpectedly — a supernatural love and joy at having children and lots of them. They expressed that it is only by relying on God’s grace, not our own desires, that we reach our full potential to love. Those foregoing children may have an edge on more disposable income, but ultimately, they have less real wealth when a life worth living and eternity are factored in.

Anti-baby people often operate under the guise of overcoming poverty or, of late, stopping the climate from changing. But a new age has dawned for the DINKs. World problems might be on their list of concerns, but plain and simple, not having children is all about them. It is sad listening to their reasons lacking the understanding that the value of a new human surpasses anything in their investment portfolios.

One DINK defended herself against detractors taking issues with their boasts of clean, quiet houses and easy travel.

“The main objections to dinks appear to be that they post smug social media updates,” she wrote, “and that they travel too much. But do parents not post proudly about their bundles of joy? And isn’t having children the worst possible thing you can do in terms of CO2 emissions?”

Hannah, a travel blogger in a New York Post article said, “People are prioritizing [spending on] experiences over things like childcare. We want to experience life and holidays more whilst we still can.”

On the morning that I was reading up about DINKs, I attended Mass and listened to Scripture from the Epistle of James 1:1-11. The last two sentences, in particular, stood out to me as a corrective directive for DINKs:

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.

The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away ‘like the flower of the field.’ For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

In 2022, Pope Francis caused a stir during a general audience when he criticized couples who choose to have pets instead of children as selfish, arguing that their decision to forgo parenthood leads to a loss of “humanity” and is a detriment to civilization.

An acquaintance who is a mother of two, expressed anger at the Pope, claiming it’s selfish to have pets instead of children.

“My husband and I didn’t plan on having children when we got married,” she fumed.

“And now you have two children who are the center of your lives,” I noted. “Did having children change you? Are you less selfish as a person than you were before?”

“Yes, definitely,” she said thoughtfully.

“Well? Doesn’t that prove his point?”

Her face softened. “I’ll have to think about that,” she said.

God gave his only-begotten Son a childhood. Jesus loved children and told his disciples, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).

The devil puts a twisted spin on selfishness that sickens souls. Accepting a child is being a co-creator with God and embracing the values and spirit of his kingdom.