And what’s the sign you’re talking about? It sounds ominous but I didn’t get it.
I also don’t understand what smoking gun you’re seeing. IMO selfish is used too carelessly by the author. It’s not selfish, it’s just a want. Wants aren’t inherently selfish. And in that frame, I’d agree with the author. In typical western nuclear family setups, choice of children is usually a decision coming out of an individual want.
The transition he talks of is also typical in that stakes go up very quickly when the process kicks in. A human life is given a lot of value (in all sustainable cultures), and dealing with that can be really intense…if you’re allowed to feel it while trying to keep the children and yourself alive, which is typically very resource intensive. But the joy the author is talking about is very real.
There’s a pro-natalist group that described the joy as being able to appreciate the world from your children’s eyes, along with all their enthusiasm for it. The world anew.
And in that frame I can see a case of someone can do it too early. But nothing the author said indicated that to me.