Is it a human instinct to reproduce?

[adferfrg]

I just wanted to open this discussion because I'm very curious.

Do we have a natural need to reproduce? Could some people lack that need? Or has that need been weakened for some? Could the factor be the society we live in nowadays? Or maybe something also internal? 

What do you guys think?

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, adferfrg said:

I just wanted to open this discussion because I'm very curious.

Do we have a natural need to reproduce? Could some people lack that need? Or has that need been weakened for some? Could the factor be the society we live in nowadays? Or maybe something also internal? 

What do you guys think?

Not as such, but there are a number of instincts that have the effect of leading to reproduction, the most obvious being the mating instinct that is the basis of sexual attraction. Another is the instinct to form partnerships with a member of the opposite sex, which is helpful for child-rearing. But of course, as we are sentient beings, there is a host of other factors that consciously or unconsciously modify our instincts, and may override them.  Now that, in most societies, we can control our fertility, conscious calculations about having children play a predominant role.  

[Peterkin]

2 hours ago, adferfrg said:

Do we have a natural need to reproduce?

Need, no. Urge, yes. But it is by no means universal, nor its intensity evenly distributed. Some people are desperate for a child or children of their own (which is biological offspring, and for many women, this includes the whole gestation and birthing process; for many men, the absolute assurance that they alone could have contributed the sperm) Personally - and this is a subjective opinion - I think this is more a psychological drive than a biological one. Some people are nurturing by temperament  and thrive on parenthood, but don't mind whose DNA went into the product.  Some people [like me] are allergic to infants but quite like children. Some want children and discover too late that they hate parenthood; some don't want children, but when presented with one, find themselves falling in love.

 

2 hours ago, adferfrg said:

Could the factor be the society we live in nowadays?

Society is always a factor in influencing our assumptions and attitudes. Our society conditions our responses, shapes our desires, values and expectations. It also imposes rules and placements: allows and provides a defined range of options; individual choice is limited to those. 

1 hour ago, exchemist said:

Or maybe something also internal? 

Internal influences would include many factors from physiology and hormones, through instincts, sentiments and pragmatism to tax calculations.  All of those play a part.

I think you may have placed the question in too large a frame. If you narrowed the terms of inquiry, you might get more meaningful answers.

 

[Genady]

19 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

Some people are desperate for a child or children of their own (which is biological offspring, and for many women, this includes the whole gestation and birthing process; for many men, the absolute assurance that they alone could have contributed the sperm)

Personally - and this is a subjective opinion - I think this is more a psychological drive than a biological one.

This case is the only one that counts as reproduction, isn't it?

It might be biological. E.g. it is so in lions, where a male kills other male's offspring to make room for his own..

[Peterkin]

49 minutes ago, Genady said:

This case is the only one that counts as reproduction, isn't it?

Biological replication of DNA is properly reproduction, yes. But I didn't restrict my comments to that function, since humans are not driven solely by biology.

The need to raise only a biological child is not the standard in humans, many of whom are both more intelligent and more social than male lions (lionesses are far more affectionate and tolerant). It's not uncommon for humans to take responsibility and feel love for offspring other than their own, unrelated by blood or even ethnicity. Indeed, it's not all that uncommon for females of several other species to adopt orphaned young, of their own or another species. Less common for males to be nurturing, but socialized domestic animals sometimes are, and not only toward their own genetic offspring.    

[Genady]

40 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

Biological replication of DNA is properly reproduction, yes. But I didn't restrict my comments to that function, since humans are not driven solely by biology.

The need to raise only a biological child is not the standard in humans, many of whom are both more intelligent and more social than male lions (lionesses are far more affectionate and tolerant). It's not uncommon for humans to take responsibility and feel love for offspring other than their own, unrelated by blood or even ethnicity. Indeed, it's not all that uncommon for females of several other species to adopt orphaned young, of their own or another species. Less common for males to be nurturing, but socialized domestic animals sometimes are, and not only toward their own genetic offspring.    

Yes, I know all this. I've pointed to it because the OP's question is specific about reproduction, and is placed in the Biology forum.

[Peterkin]

14 minutes ago, Genady said:

I've pointed to it because the OP's question is specific about reproduction, and is placed in the Biology forum.

So, the only answer to the title question is: Yes.

Doesn't seem the cover the topic as represented by the other questions I attempted to answer. Not much room for discussion.