My (30M) girlfriend (34F) has given me an ultimatum of sorts. I need to decide whether I want kids in the future or we will break up. 

Ive never wanted kids. Throughout my 20s the idea of having kids and starting a family never appealed to me. I enjoy having money, travelling whenever I want and having the freedom to be spontaneous. 

As I get older, I now understand why other people want/have kids, but it still doesn’t appeal to me. With that said, I am in love with my girlfriend. If I was ever going to have kids and start a family with anyone, it would be her. But also, I still don’t feel a desire to have kids - I always thought finding the right person and being in love would maybe change my mind on this. It hasn’t really. 

I’m basically hung up on 3 major points. 

1. kids are expensive, and I don’t feel as if my current financial situation/income would be sufficient 

2. there is so much I still want to experience which would become impossible or significantly harder with kids 

3. I don’t want to get 2 years into having kids and feel stuck for the next 18 years. 

Of course there are two choices, but each choice has two possible outcomes - broadly speaking. Of course there are infinite nuances to each scenario. 

I say I don’t want kids, and we break up. 

Scenario 1: I live life the way I have always wanted to, and I have no regrets. I miss my girlfriend for a while, but I eventually get over it and move on. 

Scenario 2: I live my life the way I have always wanted to, and sometime down the line my life starts to feel empty or lacking purpose, and I wish that I had kids and a family. 

I decide to stay with my girlfriend and commit to building a family. (I thought of a 3rd scenario for this one) 

Scenario 1: I regret this decision and I get stuck with 2 decades of financial burden and responsibilities that I knew I never wanted. 

Scenario 2: I have been wrong about parenthood, and I find it fulfilling and rewarding and I am grateful for the opportunity to raise children and grow a family. 

Scenario 3: I get cold feet a year from now, and I hurt my girlfriend even more, and “waste” more of her time as her biological clock ticks. 

I know there is no possible way to know which decision is “right” and how the rest of my life will play out from that decision. 

I think I’ve made my decision. It is not fair to my girlfriend or to our potential children to start a family unless it is 100% something I want to do. That is a recipe for resentment, which my girlfriend does not deserve and neither do our hypothetical children. It will hurt me a lot to lose her, but I know it is the right thing to do. 

I am looking for advice, perspective, experience etc. from people who have been in a similar situation to me. 

Thanks in advance. Happy to answer any questions that I can. 

Food: Pesto gnocchi and a salad (consumed before the photo)

I Have Been Given An Ultimatum. Looking for Outside Perspective/Advice.