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"Mom delivers 16th child" - Is there something wrong with this?

moonshot said:
Science, Religion Politics and Philosophy can run side by side and even feed off each other. The danger is when one is excluded.
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Last time I checked this was a book forum. As a conservative Catholic, you don't see me getting into the abortion/familial status of other individuals here, do you? I'm just not interested in getting on the conversation here. If you want to talk Religion go here http://forums.catholic.com/index.php?

You want a political forum, go here http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/forum/index.php

Quit having your hissy fit, will ya? geesh:rolleyes:
 
See? Other strongly religious people can be mature about this. They don't have to yell and moan.

A thank you and much respect to Isabell for proving that not all strong believers are die-hard fanatics.
 
Jemima Aslana said:
See? Other strongly religious people can be mature about this. They don't have to yell and moan.

A thank you and much respect to Isabell for proving that not all strong believers are die-hard fanatics.
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Yes, thank you. That is exactly what I am, a very strong believer. However, I respect that not everyone has the same beliefs as I do, so I see no reason to discuss any of my feelings or opinions about religion or anything related to it. If I feel inclined to talk about it, I will head to the Catholic forum that I posted before.

I think this person needs to respect other people's feelings about not wanting to talking about Religion or Politics for that matter. This is a privately owned forum and if the owner doesn't want this type of disscussion, we should abide by these rules.....or leave; and we have the freedom to do as such.
 
Isabell said:
I think this person needs to respect other people's feelings about not wanting to talking about Religion or Politics for that matter. This is a privately owned forum and if the owner doesn't want this type of disscussion, we should abide by these rules.....or leave; and we have the freedom to do as such.
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Well said. Now personally I'm always ready to discuss religion and politics, I'm frankly quite fond of it. But I've seen quite a few internet fora so far and I've Modded and Admined some of them, so I have complete understanding for why the Administration of a message board may not desire to deal with the two always highly flammable topics, so no matter how much I feel like discussing it I'm able to shut up about it and go elsewhere with the issue. It's not really that hard.
 
I remember this being a topic folks were pretty interested in so, I thought I'd let you all know the shows on the Duggers are on TLC this week.

There is an older show on right now, called "14 Children and Pregnant Again" which is being replayed Tuesday at 2PM.

The new show, "16 Children and Moving In" is on tonight at 8PM and is being replayed Sunday at 1PM.
 
I saw that show about them moving in last night. Now they don't have to wait so long for a bathroom.

I found myself wondering if those kids have any friends outside the family, in a previous show they would have worship with other members of whatever religion they belong to, but I think their exposure to other people is very narrow. If any of them go to college they're in for a culture shock. It's admirable they're raising all those kids to be good citizens though.

The mom is 39, I think she's very fortunate she hasn't had any kids with Down's syndrome yet. I bet she'll keep popping 'em out till she goes through menopause.
 
She's had 16 kids and she's only 39 :eek: I didn't really read all of the thread did she give birth to all 16? if so, I'm surprised her body is not just worn out. She didn't really have sufficient recovery time between pregnancies, did she? Even just keeping up with that many kids would be exhausting.
 
Certainly on camera they seemed exceptionally well behaved and very happy. They all work together and respect each other. On camera. I must say that based on what we were allowed to see, I can see nothing wrong with what they are doing.

But boy it's sure not for me.

That father must be one butt-kicking good real estate salesman. The monthly bills alone must be outrageous.
 
My ten kids have friends all over the world, literaly. Between friendships through our small church, and our community, various church camps, and the internet, they've managed to get to know a lot of people outside our home. If course, situations vary.
As for home arrangements, bathrooms, chores, and just plain learning to get along, a large family lends itself to multitudes of oppportunities for interpersonal development:D Just last night, the two kids who had KP this week were fighting over who had to 'start' the dishes..and it got later and later, a much louder..til Dad, who's miserable with a cold, came out and bestowed the entire job on one kid, and told the other one they could do the job all by themselves tonight...a fate worse than death around here. Perhaps next time, they won't fight so much over such petty things as who has to walk into the kitchen and get the work started.
Don't get me wrong, we have a lot of fun around here too..sometimes WAY too much! Just the other night my 16 year old daughter was trying to teach my 4 year old son to A. waltz and B. Bow...
 
I'm talking about friends who come over, or spending time with friends on a day to day basis; friends who aren't necessarily approved of, but appeal to the child perhaps simply because they're different. That family just sounds like there's so much to be done at home that there's no time for friends outside the "family circle". Yes, it's probably nice for a parent to know that their children have pre-approved friends, but what's needed here are friends from different cultures, maybe, or even of a different religion. The kind of friends one makes in a public school. For cripes sake, the girls in the Duggar family were drilling holes for the new house wearing dresses, I haven't yet seen one of the girls wearing pants. It's more like a cult than a family.

Ronny, there was one set of twins (at least I think just one set). My mother thinks the mom in that family might be one of those rare women who feel terrific when they're pregnant. If she had morning sickness for six months with each pregnancy, or had to be monitored for eclampsia, I doubt she'd be constantly pregnant.
 
There were two sets of twins.

I think it was intesesting that the couple was married when she was 17 and he was 19.

I found the dresses thing interesting too.

They also bought 20 acres so that each child could build their own house and live on the same property with the entire family for life.

Wow.

Very different lifestyle for sure.

Every childs name started with a "J".

Odd to be sure, but they sure looked happy.
 
Sounds like they are part of a legalistic church, but all this is entirely up to them..I know lots of other homeschooled kids who have friends all over the planet, and not all are within the same religious background. If anything, we have the freedom to enjoy other people and get to know them as they are, in a more natural setting than within the confines of a a classroom for 6 hours per day. Nothing this family is doing is illegal or immoral.
 
I haven't followed the entire post, but on the whole I think I agree with Motokid. In England you get extra money when you have extra kids and in Germany you get Tax reliefs. Single people are hammered the most in Germany which I think is unfair.
So having 16 kids is fine if you afford it on your own accord, but when you're living off the taxes of others...I think it's unfair and selfish.
A girl I once knew was obsessed with having kids, regardless of what state her relationship was. Predicatbly she was socialist Sweden. She would assert that couples who were perhaps carreer orientated were selfish. She had big personality problems and suffered alot from depression. I would say that SHE was selfish, as she wanted a kid, like many want pets, not really thinking about the well being of how the kid will grow up and what she could offer the kid, when she herself was suffering from emotional problems. Ive found this alot.
Again, its funny when people talk about the environment and greenhouse gases, but it seems absoutely fine to bring 16 kids into this world. Especially when they get supported by the state.

My mum used to say " If you can do nothing else in life, you just reproduce" which is a bit harsh, but in my Swedish friends case, rather apt.
The other one I've heard is " Whereever you go, stupid people breed lots!".

You only have to go to India to se people in adject poverty, breeding lots selfishly, knowing that they'll offer very little to their off spring, but thinking that there's more potential earning from begging and a higher degree of probability some will survive....
 
Poppy1 said:
In India, lack of birth control might have quite a lot to do with it.
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Nope, not really, and being of Indian extract, I think I'm qualified to say. I've also been there many times.
You can break it down into various casts, the higher casts wont have many children where as typically the poorer people on the street WILL have.
The higher cast system people have pressure to ensure their children become "something" or "someone" which might seem cold by western standards , where it seems cool to have any old job, may be, or else don't worry about it, it's just a job, but in a country where you don't have the fall back of welfare, it's survival. Hence more kids, and more pressure.
 
You are obviously more qualified than me to comment on Indian culture but I try not to be judgemental of other peoples cultures. Who knows how we would act if put in that sort of situation. Also, how many people have children for purely unselfish reasons?
As far as the number of children people have, I think it's entirely a matter of personal choice. What concerns me more is when they have no choice due to lack of education and available birth control.
 
Marquis Rex said:
Nope, not really, and being of Indian extract, I think I'm qualified to say. I've also been there many times.
You can break it down into various casts, the higher casts wont have many children where as typically the poorer people on the street WILL have.
The higher cast system people have pressure to ensure their children become "something" or "someone" which might seem cold by western standards , where it seems cool to have any old job, may be, or else don't worry about it, it's just a job, but in a country where you don't have the fall back of welfare, it's survival. Hence more kids, and more pressure.
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I think it's good that parents pressure kids to be something or someone, as long as it doesn't place too much psychological pressure on a child. In my town, an Indian mother was murdered by her daughter, who was a physician, because the mother placed too much demand on the daughter, apparently the daughter didn't really want to be a doctor but the mother (who also had two other children) insisted. I think it's a parent's job to raise their children to become functioning members of society.

In countries where there is no welfare or Social Security for elderly people, it certainly is important that children be able to help support their elderly parents. Also, in some countries where birth control is forbidden or unaffordable or people just plain don't know about it, it makes sense to have a lot of children if there is a high rate of child death. I'd like to say that I don't approve of people anywhere having a lot of children when they can't afford them or give them the love and attention they deserve. I'm tired of opening the newspaper every day and reading about yet another horrible case of abuse and neglect of children whose parents don't give a damn about them.
 
I have mixed feelings about the "pushing of children to achieve". As a kid I had alot of anger toward my parents because of this. My father pushed me to do Law, which I found so boring. Fortunately he wasnt too put out when I chose to do engineering.
It didnt help that as an engineer in the UK,however, even working as Team Leader in Engine performance resserch and development at Jaguar I was paid a little more than a mechanic. I felt like a fool. However, now Ive finally been head hunted by the Germans who know how to appreciate engineers, and now that my father has passed away, I see things differently, I feel financially comfortable, and am in demand in terms of head hunters, and I feel only gratitude toward my parents. I thank my mum regularly.Its a tough one....really....is
But NOW I can pursue something more artistic, like writing freely.
I dont think theres a "correct answer", as in my youth i travelled around and did alot of things between studying that would have been heavily frowned upon by many more traditional strict asian parents, as perhaps it wasnt "goal orientated" enough, however they have made me the person I am today with my (hopefully) unique outlook on the world.
 
It's good that you don't harbor anger against your parents. I feel it's worse when parents don't give a damn whether their kids do well in school. Mine did, but I kind of wish they nudged me a little more to decide what I was going to be when I grew up. I think they were thinking that I'd go to college and get my "Mrs." degree. They were disappointed there. :rolleyes:
 
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