According to the Canadian Press, a British Columbia woman, age 44, just gave birth to her 18th child, a girl who weighed almost eight pounds. Her oldest is twenty-three. Her husband, Alexandru Ionce, said he wouldn't say no to more children: "We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that's the reason we did not stop the life. We let life come."
The large family is out of fashion these days, but maybe it's making a comeback.
Mother of four Katie Allison Granju writes on Babble.com about wanting six kids, and about how she doesn't feel her choice is widely respected:
While we do appear to have a pop culture fascination with big families - witness the interest in the Duggars, Jon and Kate Plus Eight, and even the Jolie-Pitt brood - our focus is somewhat akin to the way one would observe a circus sideshow act, complete with requisite smug ridicule. In fact, many of the people I know personally who make it a point to actively support reproductive rights don't seem to believe that those rights should also extend to actual reproduction; this is especially true for pro-choice folks who seem to believe I am committing some kind of heinous eco-crime by giving birth.
We never would have thought having a passel of kids would be controversial if you can take care of them, but judging from the feedback so far people have very strong feelings about the relative benefits and dowside of having birthing a small army. What do you think: heinous eco-crime, or god-sent miracle?
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 9)
16. good 4 u inez. keep it up!
Sally at 3:50PM on Jul 29th 2008
17. Sally; the catholic church says it's wrong because they've been suppressing women as long as they've existed.
Ryan Anderson at 3:51PM on Jul 29th 2008
18. that is NOT true!!!!!
Sally at 3:59PM on Jul 29th 2008
19. There is a family in my home town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, of 19 adult children, all single births. Their mother is 86 years old now and their father is 91 or 92. There are countless grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Catherine at 4:22PM on Jul 29th 2008
20. Sally - the Catholic Church does not speak for ALL of America! And I have known plenty of Catholics who use artificial means of birth control. There was a poll on AOL the other day on this issue. 90% of the country supports birth control. Why should the 10% get to tell the 90% what to do? I think not.
David S. at 4:34PM on Jul 29th 2008
21.
Sally,
What could possibly be immoral about birth control?
Nothing is harmed, save a few( million) sperm and a couple of eggs.....no life by any arguement !
mac at 5:06PM on Jul 29th 2008
22. David S.,
The Catholic Church is not a democracy. It is the body of Christ. I am going to succinctly explain the position of the Catholic Church on contraception. First, let's review the reason why God created sex in the first place. Contrary to popular belief, it was not so people could achieve orgasm. Achieving an orgasm is great when a husband and wife have sexual intercourse, but it is not the object of sex. Sex was created by God for procreation and unity, i.e. unitive and procreative. It should only occur between one man and one woman within the sacrament of marriage. This excludes unmarried men and women, two men, two women, two women and one man, two men and one woman, me and my pet, me and my brother, etc. It is a privilege of husband and wife and no one else.
Since sex is unitive and procreative it is the teaching of the Catholic Church that contraception (1) disrupts the unitive process between husband and wife and (2) prevents God from co-creating new life within that marriage. Contraception creates an anti-life mentality. I want to have sex because it feels great, but a child; the natural result of sex is too inconvenient for me. Besides, children and sex don’t go together, now do they? My husband views me as nothing more than someone for him to have pleasure with. If I get pregnant when my contraception fails, I can run to the nearest abortion clinic and get rid of my baby.
Let’s clear up a common misunderstanding about the Catholic Church. It respects women. It respects us so much that it tells men to view us as more than just an object for lust. It tells them that we are human beings with the gift of fertility. Respect all of us, not just the "fun" parts. It tells women the same thing about men. A man is more than just his penis. He has a gift of fertility too. The Church recognizes that there may be serious reasons why a couple must avoid pregnancy. That’s when Natural Family Planning comes in. This is not the rhythm method. In NFP, you only have sex when you are infertile. A woman can only become pregnant a few times a month. The couple learns when this occurs and abstains. In other words, they practice SELF-CONTROL. It works in the opposite way too; it can help you become pregnant.
As far as dissident Catholics; there will always be “weeds among the wheat”. We pray for them because they are in serious sin. The Church is never changing it’s stance on contraception, so they should just become Episcopal. If it ever changed, the faithful would know that the end was near. We would worship underground and await our LORD.
Last, as a woman I really don't want chemicals in my body. A long term study is a lifetime. None of these drugs have been observed over a lifetime, but millions of women take them like candy! I recognize that some women use say, Depo-Provera for menstrual cramps, but not the vast majority. It is ironic that women complain about being disrespected by men. If every woman is contracepting then technically we are all sexually available. What is the big deal if men treat us like simply an available vagina?
janesophie1 at 5:40PM on Jul 29th 2008
23. PS.
If you truly want to learn more about the teachings of the Catholic Church on sexuality, please read Theology of the Body. Humanae Vitae is the encyclical on contraception. It is prophetic in its predictions about the negative effects of contraception. If you are going to criticize, at least know what you are criticizing. Read the documents from the source. God bless!
janesophie1 at 5:47PM on Jul 29th 2008
24. Yes, people have the right to decide how many children they want to have, but with rights come responsibilities. You have to be able to take care of your children both physically and emotionally. Also, when a woman has more than four children, she is starting to put her own life at risk. It is irresponsible to throw your own life away, especially when people depend upon you and most especially when those people are your children.
Adele at 11:01PM on Jul 29th 2008
25. Sally - again, not everyone is Catholic! Have your beliefs, as unrealistic as they are. Catholics are not the majority of the population, and they are not the government. And I know full well the Catholic Church stance on birth control. I was raised Catholic and left it for this reason and so many others.
David S. at 6:21PM on Jul 29th 2008
26. I don't really understand why people get upset about others large families.... I can't imagine giving birth to that many kids but hey, its obviously possible. By all means, lets take care of the Earth, but is it really necessary to limit the amount of children we each have?
Shannie at 6:31PM on Jul 29th 2008
27.
My great grandmother had fifteen children, but then she found out what was causing them....
Clif Kuplen at 6:40PM on Jul 29th 2008
28. Fine. You're right, I'm wrong. Happy??
Sally at 6:59PM on Jul 29th 2008
29. If I am alowed to do so, this priest couldn't have said it better - Go Fr. Stan!!!!!!! :
I was at the airport
Opened up the paper-
I was shocked at what I saw-
Talk about a new law coule it be a new rule
Or was it just another fool
I had to read it again-
Thought there was somethin I was missin-
Could it be it was the truth-
Comin from a politician-
Or was it just wishful thinking what I was readin
Or was it just an attempt to stop our national bleedin
A new kinda law-
To overturn Row v Wade
To get the nation back on track-
With how we use financial aid-
All the hotsy-totsy people getting worked up in a tirade
Republicans and Democrats
Under-worked and overpaid
The next time in the court-
Death presented opposition-
The demon started screamin-
About the truth of our position-
They saw their end comin destined for the grave
Ain't this the land of the free
And the home of the brave
Thou shall not kill
But not on Capital Hill
Ya let us do it with the doctor
Or we do it with the pill
Mommies ain't safe in the streets
But if a thug come and beats
Mommy over the head
And leaves the baby for dead
Ya say it's fine but it's tragic
We can't stop it with magic
It's politically bleak
It's cause we're spiritually weak
Y'all try to cover up the scam
With illegitimate silence
Check it "I'm here to defend
Unborn victims of violence"
Let's let freedom ring-
Bring it to the Senate-
These are the dogs-
Who gonna try to prevent it-
They will never admit it-
The government's the culprit-
There is silence in the clergy-
Some won't preach it from the pulpit-
Congress is afraid to speak-
They livin like a puppet-
You gotta watch ya never know
Who got their hand on a string
We'll never really find out
What happened to Kennedy and King
Too many educated lawyers-
Could the situation worsen-
Is it really true they don't believe-
It ain't a fetus but a person-
Governmental desecration
Multi-million lives been spent
What will it take for them to learn
The right to life is self-evident
Legislation makin bad laws-
Year to year case to case-
Destroying the culture-
Poison the market place-
This is the land of the free-
This is the home of the brave-
As we movin on we steppin back we livin like a slave
Livin in denial sleepin in a grave
The embryos are frozen the suicide's assisted
You call this freedom "wake up" this is seriously twisted
Sally at 7:04PM on Jul 29th 2008
30. Jane; sex was designed by evolution and now pharmacuticals let people enjoy it without causing the women to get pregnant. Good times!!!
Ryan Anderson at 7:04PM on Jul 29th 2008