That's a tough question to answer since it's 100% dependent on finding a healthy, stable partner.

I had 4 children by the time I was 24 - which I blame mostly on my unstable childhood. I did not have a healthy or stable partner and he added tremendously to my load. Now that my kids are adults we are very close and I can't imagine a world in which I was not a mother.

But those years of parenting young children with no help aged me rapidly. Once I left him, I found a peaceful home, but now I have to contend with their mental health issues due to having an unstable, unloving father.

So while I believe parenting has likely been my greatest joy, knowing what I know now, I would not have done it again. Perhaps you can seek treatment and learn how to find a good partner (do they even exist?), but in my experience, you can't truly know if they'll step up and be a good dad until you're actually in the middle of it. Nobody really knows how they'll behave under the extremely trying circumstances of mental and physical exhaustion as well as parenting disagreements.

And one thing they never mention about parenthood is the risk of having an unhealthy child - either at birth or through some sort of accident. My daughter has Cystic Fibrosis. That is its own nightmare. And something we rarely picture when we imagine a sweet new baby in our arms.

I guess, in short, nobody can really answer that question for you, but proceed with caution if you do. You'd probably want to be with your partner for several years to see their character in many different settings. Also, as with all things we want to be good at, please learn as much as you can about the right ways to parent instead of just winging it like most people do.

The Gottman Institute is a great place to start!

https://www.gottman.com/parenting/