Hi Hive account@macchiata this is a great and very thoughtful post. Awesome.
I came from a very conservative family and have also found many similar cases as you mentioned above. I choose different path from my cousins. I choose career and education first which sound super cool for the western world but scary to mine :D Anyway, when I came back from getting a higher degree abroad and having good career in my country, some people successfully brainwashed me with the idea that my what they called ""too high education and good career" had caused me being single on my 29th. But at the end I finally found my another half (foreigner) who is proud to have me for what ever I have and I want to achieve in the future. We are married for one month now, in two month I will be 30 years old and I am happy. so I believe the biggest challenge in every culture is "not to bother what other's think about what we plan for our future" especially about marriage and having baby. And we have to remember that our decision will not only justify our future but also the future of human being that will come from us.