16 kids and wanting more - Page 3

I can't imagine anybody wanting this many children. It is too much for my brain to even try to figure it out. Can you imagine how many grandchildren they will have for pete's sake and the size dinner table they will need? Plus, having been married to a schoolteacher, I can't see how anyone could home school 16 children. I mean she must feel better than I did when I was pregnant. I couldn't have gone to school myself let alone be a teacher.

Couln't agree more with Obi & tuxedokitties here.
6.5 billion people and rising is a huge problem. We're already dealing with the consequences, and it's just going to get worse for the next generation.
As for being worried about govt intervention -LOL! Since when would a western govt be so proactive?! If you really want to see a reduction in the number of unwanted pregnancies, the only way to go is free, open SEX EDUCATION, and access to birth control.
Statistics show that the more emancipated and educated a country's women are, the less kids they pump out. There are always exceptions to the rule, but in this case at least the woman is happpy and genuinely wants these children.

That means she has been pregnant for 16 years!!! UGH
I have THREE children and that is MORE than enough for me.
If they are happy - more power to em.
We all are close on my side of the family and so having this many siblings and family - that would be cool.

Hmm, let's see.
My Ortho-Evra patch costs a whopping 36 dollars a month...
12 months in a year...
we'll say 25 years w/out birth control, to allow for having 16 kids...
that is a savings of $10,800!!!

Thats a nice down payment on a giant van to haul all the little buggers around in!

Yes, but, according to a fact sheet found at Population Connection:

"According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a child born in 1995 to a family earning more than $56,700 a year costs $11,320 in the first year of life. By the time that child hits 18, the parents will have spent $346,980.

A recent article in Smart Money magazine added in college expenses and calculated that a child born today to that same middle-class will cost his parents $450,000."

And that's for ONE !

mAYBE we should have a law like China that women are allowed 2 children only and strictly enforce it like China does.

Am I the only one who is reminded of Andrea Yates when reading about this family? No birth control, one child immediately after the other, home schooling... Yates very obviously had severe psychological problems, but I wonder if this woman is some day going to hit her limits, and simply break down. How much parenting does the husband do? Does she have outside household help?
I found some of the photos of the family rather disturbing. The girls were dressed and had their hair done exactly like their mother, as if they weren't individuals, but her clones. Ditto the boys and the father.

You'd never get it passed in this country.

Agreed.

Really...I havent seen those pictures

you make a good point..I mean hopefully it was just the photographer that made them dress that way....but it is a scary thought.....

I lerned in psychology that pregnancy can become addictive to some women....They love the attension, on top of which the unconditional love of a baby among other things....this is the kind of addiction that can lead to "Munchausen disorder(sp?)

Not to say of course, that it won't come down to some such law or variation thereof (2 children max) becoming reality if everybody decides they need to produce 16 children (or more apparently : ). In ancient Rome she would've gained the "Right of 3 Children" five times over! More Roman soldiers thus gained.

The pictures were on German TV yesterday evening. Since the station gets a lot of photographic material from CNN, I assumed they'd been shown there. Maybe they were Christmas card photos, and the photographer suggested the "look alike" themes, but I found it very strange that the girls all had long hair in curly ponytails hanging over their shoulders like mom, were dressed like her, and that the boys wore the same color polo shirts, etc., as dad, and had the same haircut. My husband's comment was, "I wonder if they have names, or just numbers, like J1, J5, J13", which really got my attention.

Actually, China has had a "one-child" policy since the late 70s, though exceptions are made in very rural areas, or if the first child is a girl, since there's been a "slight" problem of infanticide in that case, due to the belief that only males can properly honor ancestors.
Overpopulation is a major problem. However, since I live in Europe, where the birth rate is extremely low, all I hear is concern about who is going to support retirees, given the current, and rising, life expectancy, and fears of certain "cultures" dying out. Last week I got involved in a debate with two German colleagues who were worried about the low birth rate and the danger of their "culture" dying out. I think I really offended them when I said that Germany is overpopulated (true - we live on top of one another, and I experience real claustrophobia, despite having been born and raised in one of the U.S.'s largest cities), and that "culture" is fluid, and constantly undergoes changes with each wave of immigrants. They looked at me as if I were from outer space. Sorry - I explained that I was a "mongrel", meaning of a mixed cultural and racial background, but I still think that I shocked them.
The planet can only sustain so many humans - does it really matter what their ethnic background is?

I just have to say I love that the birthrate in Japan is falling as well, mostly because (to horrendously oversimplify things) the women are like "So we're supposed to take care of your parents - and the children? I'd rather go to a bar."

I think it's great.

IMO, I don't think this world is big enough for people having that many children. I know it's a big place, but we WILL run out of room eventually! Especially with all the kids that need homes out there. If you want that many, ADOPT! Free up some space!

I have to agree.

I think that the long hair and style of dress is a religious issue. Some religions adhere to a Biblical quote "a woman's long hair is her glory" (sorry, don't have chapter and verse) and the admonition to modesty in dress.

Good call. To clarify though, it's actually that a woman's hair glorifies man, and a man's hair glorifies god. So, to show honor to her husband a woman's hair is kept long, but is then covered in church (plus some other places, depending) because "man's" glory should be humbled when worshiping god. I only know this because my brother was part of a very conservative group for a while, and they adhered strictly to this.

I saw the story of this family on television this afternoon and must say I was really impressed with this couple's devotion to each other and their children. The kids were all well behaved, smart, happy and industrious. The family is even building themselves a new 7,000 square foot home with their own hands!

The program showed the kids being home schooled, going out on field trips playing together and being part of the naming of the newest child. As a former teacher, I have no problem with them having this many children because they are caring, loving parents who really seem to have it all together. These kids are all going to be contributing members of society. And these parents are no threat to our society, they are assets. I've seen many families raising only one or two children who are out of control and are going to be a drain on our system.

Over population is not going to happen by families having 16 kids. The reason this family made the news is because it is almost unheard of. I would not want to live in any country who told me how many children I could have. What's next? Telling us where to work and who to marry? Hasn't government stepped on our individual rights too often already?

Sorry but IMHO there IS a problem with having so many - just like when you don't spay a cat and it has a litter of 4 and each of the 4 have a litter of 4 etc. There will soon be NO ROOM for all the people.

Here where I live there are no more ranchets or homes with decent back yards for kids to play in. There ARE homes homes and lots of homes. They are back to back and side to side and right off the freeway. Those people who HAD the nice homes have been bought out and now their
nice homes are part of tract houses. Everywhere you look, HUGE homes, no yards and you can almost hear your neighbor talk you are so close.

What about those of us who enjoy our decent back yards and who do not want to have to live on top of a neighbor. WE don't count as there are people with 16 or more kids who NEED homes for THEIR kids and their kids kids and so on!

THAT is why familys need to practice birth controll. NO I do NOT beleive in the govenment telling us how many (they won't anyway as more kids mean more voters!!!!) kids we can have but I DO believe in respect for other people who want nice and not tract homes!

That's insane!!!!

I watched them on Discovery Health Channel...I can't imagine having that
many children..but they seem very organized and loving parents.
I guess if you have the patients and the finances you can have an
extra large family.
She looks pretty darn good for having that many children and i give them
both credit for having the patients to raise such a large family.
However,i think they should stop now..they have 16 kids!

They are going to have an update on them in the spring

i'm with you on this one, my aunt has 12 kids, and you could not find a more close knit family, they have their own online newsletter and they all look out for each other, and they looked out for their parents too ( dad died, mom is still alive)
when they were growing up, there were always freinds staying over, so there would be as many as 16 kids in the house. they never went without, never took any handouts, and when it came time for college, they got scholarships, loans and worked to pay for their own education.

i came from a family of six, my other aunt had six kids, too, and my dad came from a family of nine.
this was not uncomon back then

these days, with so many ppl only have one or two kids and lots of ppl not having any, i doubt they are hurting the population growth all that much. and besides, we need kids who are actually PARENTED- so many ppl who have kids these days, let the kids pretty much raise themselves, they have no time for them. here is a family that is doing a lot of things together, plenty of time for the parents to raise the kids right and instill good values in them.

i bet there are a lot of kids who are very jealous of that family!!

just MVHO

I live on 6 acres in the back woods. There are no neighbors to be seen and only one traffic light in our whole COUNTY. There is plenty of open land left for those who seek it. Drive across the country and you'll find that out. People in this country can still choose the life style they want. You can choose to live in the big cities, the suburbs or rural. Many people who buy those big tract homes are yuppies who have the bucks to buy them but do not want to spend the time doing outside maintenance. Their house are status symbols and many have NO children. If you want the convienence of lots of shopping, theaters, and public venues then you have to live in densley populated areas. It's a CHOICE.

How many people do you know choose to have families larger than 2 or 3 children??? I actually know more people who are opting to have NO children than are opting to have more than 3. This family poses no threat to us. In fact, I think they could teach most of us a thing or two about raising kids well. I doubt that having families of 16 children are ever going to become a fad.

I have 3 kids, and had always wanted more... but now that mine are getting older, I realize how expensive it is going to be to put the ones I have through post secondary educations.
I opt to stop where I'm at, to make sure each has enough and I don't have to stretch out resources too thin.
Big families years ago didn't have to worry about the cost of education, more just the cost of keeping them all clothed and fed.
I have 2 brothers, and I'm glad I do, because I can share caring for our older family members and know they will never have to do without either.

For their generation, my parents are anomalies: Mom is an only child and my (step)dad is from a family of three. Both are from rural, Southern families but, their respective mothers' health precluded having more children.

Pops has two daughters, by his first wife and then had a vascectomy. Mom has four kids. I KNOW that it was sometimes a strain to feed and clothe all of us but, that's how I learned to be a bargain shopper.

I can't imagine how it would have been, if there had been more of us. As it was, we ate a LOT of beans, potatoes and spaghetti.

As for me, if I'd had more than two kids, I'd have probably wound up in a nicely padded room. For most of their growing-up years, I was a single, working parent and would not have been able to do justice, to more children.

It's not just a matter of room: From http://www.overpopulation.org/

6,500,000,000 is a LOT of people.

I live on 6 acres in the back woods. There are no neighbors to be seen and only one traffic light in our whole COUNTY. There is plenty of open land left for those who seek it.

Well I tell ya! California is running out of open spaces, and wild horses are being exterminated to make room for land for cattle to graze on so you won't have your open space too much longer. Each of 16 or 12 kids wanting 16 or 12 kids will need a home and soon there just won't be room!

California has some of the most desired real estate in the world! It's no wonder that people are drawn there in large clusters. Your weather and ocean accesibility is key, plus Hollywood and the old legend of California riches. There are still places in this country where you can drive hundreds of miles on an Interstate and see nothing but open land and a few farms.

Also, how many of those 16 kids do you think are going to want to have HUGE families? Most kids I know who grew up in big families end up having no more than 2 kids themselves. This family made the news because they are so unusual. This is NOT going to be a trend. Just take a poll to see who wants to have more than 3 kids. I think the U.S. population is growing more rapidly from our open border policy and immigrants, both legal and illegal, pouring into our country every day.

my TWO boys drive me crazy... let alone 16?!

No way....More power to em!