Is making the decision to have a child a rational one?

Yes, the decision to have a child or not is not a rational one - as I say to my baby decision coaching clients, if it was, you wouldn't be struggling so much!  That's why I really appreciated this article Is it possible to reason about having a child?   One of the reasons that I use coaching exercises that are creative or use metaphors, visualisations, and body centred techniques is that they help clients access the 'non-rational' self, the emotional side, the intuitive part which plays such a big part in this decision.