There are many ways to impact children’s lives beyond traditional parenthood.

People without kids can form meaningful bonds by "borrowing" kids from friends or family.

Family roles with kids need not be defined by biology—chosen connections deeply matter, too.

When you don’t have children of your own, the only kids in your life belong to someone else. If you want time with young people, you have to borrow them.

Sometimes that can cause problems; sometimes it’s a parent’s dream come true. Like anything else borrowed, I think most of us kidless folk treat borrowed kids well. Otherwise, we just return them.

Today, about 1 in 5 American women over age 50 have never had children, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center study. The same Pew study found nearly half (47 percent) of adults aged 18-50 are unlikely to have kids, a 10 percent increase over 2018 findings.

So, if you like kids and don’t have any, from where do you borrow them? Siblings’ kids are a natural. Those nieces and nephews enjoy some time with a different adult. You know—you grew up with one of........

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