"we are unlikely to find an honest answer as to whether having children really is a source of fulfilment"
That sounds as if you already have a made up answer: of course if we were honest, it wouldn't be a source of fulfillment? Well, you are wrong - at least for some people. Obviously nobody can generalize for other people.
I don't really care if other people have children or not, I only find it sad if they decide against them for the wrong reasons. I suspect the people who started this "kids are only a nuisance" meme are silently laughing to themselves about the fools who believed them while playing with their 5 kids.
I didn't say that is not sad. Or rather, that in itself wouldn't be sad, it would only be sad if they then also would be unhappy about having children.
Also, I'd say not having kids is missing some kind of experience you can not have otherwise, whereas having kids doesn't really make you miss out on things you could not have otherwise (unless you count stuff like "partying hard for ten years of my life instead of just 3 years"). In that sense I'd say it is sad. Of course it is not the only sad thing in the world.
That sounds as if you already have a made up answer: of course if we were honest, it wouldn't be a source of fulfillment? Well, you are wrong - at least for some people. Obviously nobody can generalize for other people.
I don't really care if other people have children or not, I only find it sad if they decide against them for the wrong reasons. I suspect the people who started this "kids are only a nuisance" meme are silently laughing to themselves about the fools who believed them while playing with their 5 kids.