Do you think parents should (if possible) have at least two kids so that their first born can have a sibling?

No. We are not born with the right to have a sibling, no matter how nice it would be.

I definitely think every kid should have one...if nothing else, so that they always have one friend for sure, and also to make sure that the parents don't go overboard in spoiling the one kid because they do only have one, which has often been the case from what my family's seen.

But there is not a guarentee that siblings will be friends...a playmate in youth is one thing, but "friends" quite another.

I think it's wonderful if children can grow up with a sibling, but it's not a right. When the importance of having a sibling really hit me was when I watched my Mom and aunts after my Grandpa died. They drew strength from each other and I remember thinking how lonely it would be to grow through that alone, even if you had a spouse and children and friends.

Ya, as an only child, the only time I missed a sibling (less missing a built in playmate) I missed having someone there when Mom was passing away and everything that came after that.

I know that as much as my brother and I fought while we were growing up, we were also best friends other times. Now that we're adults, we share a special bond. I know that I want several kids. I hope to adopt but I'd also like 1 or 2 of my own.

I think you have to make the most of whatever situation you're in, regardless of whether or not you have siblings. I grew up in a mixed family with a step brother and step sister, and at times I was an only child depending on if one of them was living with us at the time, or neither. We've recently bonded as adults after working through the dysfunction of our childhoods, so things worked out well in the end, but the three of us did not get along and hated each other as kids--mostly due to all the parents pitting us against each other in various divorce situations.

Sometimes, too, having a sibling is just not a smart option for other reasons such as healthcare issues, as in the case of my own daughter who is an only child. She was born with a genetic form of cancer that affects the eyes, and as a result is blind in one eye from that. Now, almost 16, she has epilepsy on top of that, and for me to have had another child would've meant a 50% chance of that child having the same cancer. My husband and I decided that as much as we'd like to have another, we couldn't knowingly bring a person into the world who might have a serious illness, so that decision was sort of made for us.

My daughter hasn't suffered, though, for lack of a sibling--she has plenty of friends to fill that void and cherishes her alone time when it happens.

I think siblings are one of the best gifts a parent can give to their child. IMO, the only excuse for not having a siblings is infertility of some kind. I don't believe parents need to go to extreme measures to get pregnant again or that they have to adopt or anything. But hey, I'm also not one to interfere with nature to make sure no siblings come either.

It would be nice not to grow up alone and to have someone when the parents are gone.

It's nice for a child to have a sibling, but I don't know how comfortable I am with the word 'should.' When my daughter was small, there were outsiders (friends, extended relatives) who regularly made remarks about how she needed a little brother or sister to play with, and it felt very patronizing and intrusive to me. It ultimately happened, but she'll be fourteen before her baby brother/sister is born, so I don't foresee much playing happening.

No, I don't think parents should have more than one child unless it's what they want to do. I'm an only child and I was brought up just fine and rarely wanted for another sibling. I never felt I was lacking anything in my childhood.

against "Should".