I think in a lot of ways it is a lose-lose situation. No amount of flexibility in how one parent or who parents, etc. is going to please everyone, but everyone certainly has an opinion about it and are eager to finger-wag when you do something they don’t agree with. Even the decision of whether or not to have kids is often met with A LOT of criticism. People have no idea what the other person/couple may be dealing with (physical limitations, health problems, financial problems, or simply a personal choice not to have children, or to adopt, etc.), but will negatively hammer you about your choices without knowing the full scope.