I would never declaw a cat. But realistically we knew that having a cat scratching everything would drive us crazy.. Solution: we adopted a cat from the shelter that was already declawed. There are PLENTY of declawed cats of all ages available for adoption in shelters and rescues everywhere. Granted, being declawed may be the reason they were surrendered (behavior changes, not using litter box, etc..) I spent plenty of time playing with our cat and checked to make sure he was using the litter box in his cage.
Good luck with your decision.