I think they should be careful to have their own lives fixed before even having a child. I've seen what resentment does to a parent (though thankfully not my own) and it can be really bad to a child. I agree, most satisfied parents will turn out self-sufficient, happy children. But the trouble is, in our day and age, it's so hard to be content with your job, your partner, who you are in the world (if you do manage to find that out...), so naturally, it's seemingly hard to take good care of your kids too.