The current paper uses the data available from 9 rounds (1994–2004) of The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey to analyze the distinction between wants and needs in child bearing decisions. We find that subjective factors such as welfare perception and confidence about the future, moral values and marital happiness influence decisions about childbearing or pregnancy interruptions, even with economic factors controlled for. We also study the reverse causality: how childbearing affects mother's life perception and whether children bring about happiness in the end.