(I've cut a lot of good stuff which I wouldn't disagree with).
>
> If children are raised by the clan, not by a nuclear family, then
>does it matter if Uncle Valmar never married and had children, as
>long as he's there to help raise his brother's children? The
>limiting factor is not men who want children as much as it is women
>who want children.
It's not really a problem unless all the Uncle Valmars decide not to. Certainly there's going to be people who opt out. But I think the Orlanthi "all" applies to people starting families and settling down.
But with the increased risk of death in childbirth and early childhood death though you need to have more children being born to counteract this-in part anyway. If every man and woman in a clan decided not to have kids they'd have trouble.
Besides as you alluded to there's always the misery loves company pressure to have children (and yes I do have two of my own and yes I would do it again and no I don't look down on people who don't have kids). Adults without kids or who never had kids may feel pretty left out in those late winter bitch fests...
Oliver
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