Life is not a "tease". Life is a wonderful adventure, if you allow it to be.
Life is still exactly the same as it was before you accepted the reality that no gods exist.
Besides, your children might surprise you and tell you they feel the same way.
I'm sorry you're feeling "empty". I think you've come to the right place.
Take advantage of the this community. I'm sure there are members who can help you
see that your life has even MORE meaning now that you chosen to live rationally.
We are ALL born atheists, pryan. It is our natural default position.
I get the feeling that something has happened to have made you shed your beliefs.
Perhaps seeing a mental health professional will help you cope with whatever that was.
It's okay to not believe, and it's okay to be honest about that.
Please engage with the community as much as you're comfortable with.
There are an awful lot of wonderful people here. You are not alone.

Why do you feel empty? I don't feel anything different. I feel freed from the fairytale and understand that I'm in charge of my own destiny not an invisible man that never did anything for me to begin with. My children are happy and healthy without religion.

I have no biological children and I sleep fine at night.

Life is not a tease. Knowing that this is the only life we have means we can live it to the full & appreciate every day.

No kids, no regrets.

Let's unpack this.

I don't have children. Did not want them. Do not want them (and, at this point in proceedings, it ain't gonna happen).

I'm not quite sure how your agnosticism links to your feeing of emptiness vis a vis having children.

As a non parent, I know two things about bringing up children. 1) Jack; 2) Shit - and Jack just left town.

So, I'm no expert. It's like asking me to captain a space mission. Because that is not going to go well.

But I will say - from my observations - children are, amazingly, small human beings. They are plastic and elastic. They learn. Treat them well, my dear, and they will be fine.

My son is grown and engaged and now I happily have two kids. We 'out' and discuss openly together, support one another, help eachother grow.

Is it possible that what your missing with your family is bonding through sharing? Maybe your emptiness is due to not sharing your authentic you? If I were you, I'd start opening that door gently and slowly...let them learn who you are and what you're about. In time, maybe they will come to accept you and maybe in time they will come to admire you. But the truth is, opening that door to them will help you learn to accept yourself and overcome that emptiness. HUGS, life is hard, taking an honest look at ourselves harder still.

I am atheist, as are my children.Life is awesome. It is just so amazing,the odds against us being here are astronomical, yet we are, and we get to enjoy all this.
Life is brief, but that is how it is. We need to savour every second, a life lived this way is fulfilling and when it is finished it is complete. Nothing before, nothing after.
Only that which dies can bring forth life.

I really really hate to admit this but if I had to do it over? I would not have children again.

Absofuckinglutely! My daughter is the best human being I know, and my life would mean far less to me without her around. No question.

I wonder whether you have people near you who can help you feel less alone? Friends or a counselor?

I think it is a selfish thing; choosing to bring children into the world. We don't know if this future consciousness will be happy or not. Some live happy lives, some choose suicide.

And since we cannot ask a future planned consciousness if they want to live or not, and since no one can see the future, we make the choice for them, and this choice is all about our wants.

Choosing to have children, especially in this world, cannot ever be anything other than a selfish choice.

This is one of - if not the - most interesting questions I've come across on Agnostic.com - it sure beats "pizza or tacos". I came to the realization quite some time ago that life is a cruel sick fk'n joke - but that hasn't made me regret my kids or having them. My son is an awesome young man - a far better man than I could ever be and my daughter - who just recently became a mother - is rejoicing in her role of being a mom and I love being a witness to it. I know that in terms of the human experiment that these memories or experiences don't really matter once we die - it's not like our consciousness exist after the body dies - but it matters to the living and my kids are doing great and despite my views - I would do it all over again.

Depends.
If I knew then what I know now - no, I wouldnt.
Given I didnt, I would.
.
Interesting thing : I have twin daughters, 39. Both have thanked me for being the only one who didn't bullshit them about things....but also told me they knew I gave up a lot to raise them.
Good kids.

Life isn't a "tease."
We are co-creators of our own universe..making our own reality-

“Consciousness is fundamental and matter is derived from consciousness." – Max Planck, theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory, 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics

I don’t have kids and don’t want them. It sure would be nice to find a decent guy close by who felt the same!

Don't want kids never having kids hell the whole reason my last relationship broke down was because she wanted kids and I wanted a vasectomy.

I am so pleased I never had children. I count my blessings every day. It would have been a miserable life for me with them.

It’s better to see the harsh reality than a blissful lie.

Do not have any children, and I have no regrets whatsoever. I would sure hate to be a parent nowadays.

Are you equating lack of belief in a god with lack of meaning in life? If so, I think that’s a conflation.

I was never sold on the idea of 'a baby.' Perhaps when I was much younger, I wanted to go there, but as I settled into a relationship with my (now ex) partner, it was something that I completely lost interest in. Not least because with her stress and depression made me think it wasn't the right environment to raise a child. And I was proven right on that one.

She wasn't interested for years either, then one day (as Men Behaving Badly so eloquently put it) her body clock started ticking so loud that you had to cover her in cushions just to hear the television. We went through six months of almost every other word out of her mouth being 'baby.' I resisted at first, but eventually gave in. She always got her own way in the end.

I remained indifferent until the moment I saw the first ultrasound image. And at that point, my whole outlook changed. He became a person rather than a concept.

Do I have regrets? Sometimes.
Would I hit the rewind button and take a different path without him in it? No.
But put myself in the position I was in 15 years ago, with no guarantee that the resulting offspring would be the son I have now. Would I want 'a baby'? No.
Would I ever have another child? No.

The only options for that would be surrogacy or adoption at this point, anyway.

I reckon having kids is the best thing and the worst thing you can do with your life, all rolled into one. The rewards are indescribable, but the sacrifices (mostly financial and personal freedom) are severe and sometimes difficult to deal with.

I didn't have children, but if l had it to do again l still wouldn't have children. Grandchildren are fun, if you could just eliminate the middleman, so to speak. ☺

I didn't have children and I still wouldn't given the chance.

"pryan" your post seems falsely negative. ...life is thrilling and advancing speedily in sciences now that the Vatican has lost most of it's theocratic power. ...children are benefitting from great freedom to think and explore rather than believe or retreat. ...yes religion teases/bribes with alleged heaven lies while the good news "gospel" of Atheism is "no hell below us, above us only sky" as John Lennon sang over his piano. ...the choice to not have children has long past the years after their births. ....impossible to change that now. ....encourage them all you can and keep this negative shit here where it won't scare them