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Momentary semantic rant:
What exactly do people mean by "complete me"? I can't imagine ever feeling "complete" in the sense that I have everything in my life that I want or need - first, impossible, and second what stagnation! If people think that that is what they're going to get from a relationship or from having a child, they're in for a whole lot of disappointment. I don't mean to be condescending, but I feel a bit sorry for anyone who tries to find "completion" outside themselves - why hand over so much power to any person or thing? What happens if that person leaves or dies, or that thing disappears? Seems much better to recognize ones own inherent completion and then do things because they're in line with who you are, rather than looking for something to fulfill what you see as an essential lack in your life.
Now "fulfill" I think I can understand - it doesn't carry the same connotations of permanent satisfaction (or satisfaction of some basic inadequacy in you) but more like an ongoing process, or complementarity with one's basic personality and self.
/rant
To answer your actual question, I don't think having a child would complete me (see rant above). It might be fulfilling, as I think (along the same lines as Nancy) that ratbastid's and my children (little lurkbastids - how cute!) would be wonderful and I think we'd be good parents, and it would be a real growth and learning experience. But we really have no desire to have kids. I sometimes think it might be nice, but when I think about being ultimately responsible for another person's life 24/7 for 18 years, and then still responsible to some extent for the rest of their lives, I could crawl into a closet and hide in terror. And watching my parents lose and adult child has sort of put a damper on things as well, although I know potential loss (but what loss!!!) is not really a valid reason for avoiding what could be a great experience. I love my nephew to pieces, but I love being able to hand him back to his parents and go dancing. I will love being "vice-parents" to our best friend's (D&S's) children, and maybe when I see what having kids looks like up close, I might change my mind, but I think my path goes in another direction.
To go on another rant on Nancy's coattails, I hate how "family" has been defined in our culture - it's simultaneously an institution of control (look at how the media and our politicians define "family values" - "true" families only look one way) and a commodity - Nancy's "shiny happy family," an accessory to make your life better, like an Ipod or a minivan. I look at my circle of friends and my um....special relationships (with D&S) as my "chosen family." A huge part of the reason I don't want kids is actually because I don't want to just "default" into our culture's expectations of what IS supposed to complete you, how you're supposed to behave to be a "productive member of society." I really want to choose my life, and right now I don't choose children.
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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
- Anatole France
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