If you know you want to marry and have kids, and you know who you want to marry, it’s weird to wait, especially since you can avoid being a creaking old person who still has young kids.
Imagine getting a highly evolved killer as a pet, perfectly tuned for a life of exploration, combat and death, and forcing them to live a long, soft boring life.
And if the two highest paid public servants in your state are the University football coach and the State football coach, what sort of government is it?