Having kids doesn't have to constrain or otherwise change what else you pursue or accomplish in life - but it does make it much harder to change your path in life 180 degrees should you decide that is necessary after kids have entered your life.
The real problem or source of possible regret as I see it is not the decision to have kids, rather it is that younger people don't pursue a life that really matters to them - too often just chase the money or don't put enough thought into what it is that really interests them. So when they realize later on that what they really wanted to do in life requires a drastic alteration in path - enter mid life crisis - they point their regret at obstacles facing them in their quest to change their path in life - and yes having kids makes that alteration very difficult because you are no longer just making decisions that affect you. But the problem is the kids - only if you refuse to acknowledge that what is really bothering you is decisions about yourself that you either made or failed to make much earlier in life when it was all about you.
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