One of the things that uniquely strikes me about parenthood is the fact that you are wholly responsible for another human being. As a currently childless early 20s something, I can barely take care of myself, let alone another living person.
The thing that baffles me about parenthood is that you have to buy twice the amount of stuff then you would if you were just by yourself. If you're going for a nice evening out at the Golden Corral, you have to buy a meal for yourself and a meal for your child. To me, that is one of the biggest deterrents for having children. They need way too much stuff. Luckily, some people are not as mercenary and selfish as I am, which is good. We're lucky to have so many parents in the world providing for their children and helping the next generation of children to thrive and succeed.