A lot of my ambitious male friends are hesitant to have kids because they think a family will make it harder to do great things. But the great people they admire—magnates, statesmen, scientists, etc—almost always have kids! The tradeoff isn't real!
Historical great people often had a partner who took on the bulk of the housework. Most modern ambitious men I know prefer to marry ambitious women who don't want to take primary responsibility for kids, and the couple doesn't want to pay for childcare.
