How many did you say you have?
May 25, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Women's Health
You’ve probably heard of her – if you don’t know her name, you likely still know about her. Some people admire her, some people think she’s downright nuts. Some people think it’s not her that’s nuts but it’s her husband. Whatever we think though, doesn’t matter.
Who is she? She is Michelle Duggar. She and her husband Bob have 17 children and are getting ready to welcome their 18th child. That’s their 18th natural child.
As a nurse, I wonder what this does to a woman’s body. As a woman, I can’t imagine being pregnant that many times (there are two sets of twins in there, though). As an observer, I don’t know what to think. They seem like nice people and the children seem to be happy. They’re fed, they have a roof over them. Some critics of very large families say that having so many children isn’t fair to the kids, but I don’t know. I don’t think it’s for us to decide what’s right and what’s not right.
What do you think?
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I’ve watched the show a couple times, and they are such a big happy family! Who’s to stop them from having more? If they’re happy, then let them be. However, I can’t even imagine what her body must have been through!
I find this kind of story fascinating in the same way information on a child molester or a bad car accident is fascinating. It’s a glimpse into the grotesque and is completely and essentially foreign to me.
Have any of these over-producers hear of overpopulation? Ever hear of dwindling food and energy resources?
The children of such irresponsibly procreative parents are doomed to be responsible for single-handedly overconsuming irreplaceable natural resouces and food supplies just by virture of having kids of thier own.
Even if EVERY descendant of these crazy baby-making parents ONLY produced two kids of thier own–just replaced themselves and thier child’s other parent–the original 18 children would produce 32 grandchildren, who would produce 64 great-grandchildren who would be eating and beathing and emitting a LOT more resouces, much of that non-renewable, than my two children (and maybe four grandchildren, and maybe eight grandchildren).
The world doesn’t have room for rampant and irresponsible child-breeding. In the USA and Canada, we’re no longer poverty-stricken peasants having kids as old-age insurance or because most of them die before they reached adulthood. Ever hear of Zero Population Growth?
DISCRIMINATORY COMMENTS DELETED BY MARIJKE
Enough already. Give your womb a break already! Save some of the resources for the rest of us. Take some time to send one of your litter to college instead of making more you cannot afford to fully educate.
Give the whole baby-making thing a rest already.
Well barbarag – I appreciated your comment until you became offensive with your insults to two groups. That was taken out.
what I find particularly interesting is your second sentence: It’s a glimpse into the grotesque and is completely and essentially foreign to me.
Just that tells me a lot.
I’m using your comment as a springboard for a discussion, which I’m hoping will be a good one. You’re welcome to visit it at
http://www.wombwithin.com/2008/07/29/give-the-whole-baby-making-thing-a-rest-already/
I do have to wonder though, if you’re so against having children, why are you visiting a pregnancy blog?
I’m definitely not “so against having children”. I’ve got two–wonderful, well-loved, definitely planned and wanted. Mine are 20 and almost 12, now. Since the first was born, the years have fallen away like water spilling over river boulders on steep grade: swiftly. Much too swiftly.
When I posted here the first time I really didn’t even notice that this was/is a pregnancy blog, to be honest. I was following google links on the topic of two particular families and happened on your article in that way. I’d been reading about the families for quite a while before I arrived here. Seized by inspiration after all my reading, I added my comments/judgments/criticisms/opinions here, in your place. That it came out far more harshly and/or derogatorily then I intended is shameful. I’m a big cheerleader for using words to say, precisely, what one means and I DID NOT intend to be disparaging toward anyone.
Well, except a bit toward people who drop gigantic numbers of children on societies back. I have to admit that I did, indeed, intend the pointed verbiage regarding anyone producing so many children that it negatively affects a huge amount of other people.
I certainly did not, however, intend to sputter out words that were even lightly tainted with the filth of discriminatory, elitist, reactionary or racist attitudes and/or language. I’m ashamed of my words and myself for going there, and aghast, too, that I did. To be clear, I *do not* hold such views and tend to be vocal about not wanting to hear others spouting such unmitigated crap. I was very overtired when I wrote the words and have to believe they came out ugly because I didn’t craft them with my usual care. My apologies for offending you with such rottenness.
…and now that I glance around even a little bit I can see that this is, indeed, a pregnancy website! How such an obvious focus escaped my notice when I posted previously I’ll have to ascribe to my aforementioned overtiredness!
b.
Thank you for coming back bararag. Of course, we are entitled to our opinions and I do thank you for posting. I think it is great that we can stimulate discussion and I don’t shy away from controversy. in fact, it can be kind of fun.