I think many people agree with you, maybe even just on a subconscious level. But I’m not sure that it’s a good argument. Doesn’t that logic imply that you have a duty to bestow life on as many children as possible? It’s not just your first and second child that are owed the gift of life that only you can bestow. It’s also the 14th and 15th and so on, right?
If you sacrifice your entire life to have children, that would be very admirable, but then you wouldn’t have any life left to enjoy yourself. At that point, you’re no longer merely paying things forward. So no, I don’t think my logic implies that you have to have as many children as possible.
In my opinion, the magic number is 2. When you have two children, you are keeping the number of humans alive constant (since it takes two people to have a child, you only get “credit” for half of each child). Everything beyond that is purely up to you to balance the sacred work of creating human lives vs. enjoying your own pursuits.
