Well, we’re expecting number 10 in September and we don’t think it’s too many.

As a mother of five Little Blessings in five years, and—even more to the point—a Catholic, I think the only correct answer to the question is: One more child than God wants you to have is too many! We make a huge mistake if we buy-into the world’s mentality that WE parents choose the number of kids we should have; it’s God’s choice! Even more inappropriate and chilling is the mentality of some “leaders” in our society who believe that THEY have the right to limit how many children others may have, through coercive/punitive policies, public harassment, etc. Family size is absolutely no one’s business but God’s, in cooperation with us as parents. For the rest, let’s just celebrate life as God’s gift!

To say that there are too many children is to say that some shouldn’t have been born. Who could wish any child had never been born?

I work at a library where I pass that magazine on display every day. And each time I pass I say a prayer, both for the Duggars and for the person who wrote the article. They both need our prayers.

I’m a mom of 5 with one on the way, my oldest will turn 20 on the baby’s due date. We used bc in the beginning of our lives, learning only through Gods loving smacks at the back of my head that it was not the way to go through a series of medical problems. Our first two are 6.5 years apart give our unnatural habits and the rest are spaced at 3 with only nursing to blame on the spacing…

I have heard it all, but it took the doc saying if you want more you better do it now because you need a hysterectomy ... that was when we decided on #2 and learned to listen to God. Even now, at 42, and very pregnant I wonder at times, can I really keep just letting God decide how many we have - am I sure He does not want me to use some “other” thinking? My answer is always found in the faces of the children I would not have had if my husband and I had continued with our destructive path of birth control. 

I first heard of the Duggers 19th on a radio show, and they said the baby had been premature. My first thought was to pray for the baby and the family to have strength and faith - however no concern was paid to mom or baby on the radio they immediately went into the “how many is too many” bantering and poking fun, and leading right into that anger that seems to come from people on this subject. An anger I will never understand.

God bless them and keep them strong so they can continue to be a positive example of what a family really CAN be small or large. :)

If you watched the episode where the Duggar children met Josie for the first time you can tell that 19 is far from too many in their hearts.  As the elder children gazed upon their little sister, the tears of joy ran freely.  There are many who have two children and haven’t done half the job the Duggars have done with their 19!

We went from 0 to 4 children last year, and a friend of ours joked that if we kept it up for 20 more years, we could be “Devin and Katie Plus Eighty.” 

Seriously, I think the Duggars are awesome. The Christ-less culture now looks askance at any more than 3 children (and sometimes even 3 will get you looks); I’ve seen it at work. If you have three children, you might still be normal, but more than that and “Whoa! What are you going for, a basketball team?”

Discerning whether to welcome another child into your family (or even just being open to another one) is a really hard question, one that changes from family to family and from season to season. I’m fairly new at it, but my wife and I believe God has shown us where we should be for this season of our family’s life, so that’s what we’re working with at this time.  God bless!

Funny how the “right to privacy” only extends to those who wish to contracept or abort.  While the Duggars choose to live their life to a certain extent in public, they should have the same right to decide their family size as anyone else.

Who gets to decide how many are enough for the Duggars?  I sure hope no one but God and the Duggars. What a blessing to be born into their family.

Well, I have two aunts who each had 14 children. My mother was one of 7. She remembers growing up with a neighbour who had 25 (no twins in the bunch)!

How many is such a private question and is really up to every couple to discern for themselves. I’m expecting my fifth right now and would welcome more. All are relatively healthy although our oldest is moderately autistic and may never leave the nest. My sister has 4, 3 of them are autistic (one is very severely autistic) and I don’t know how she manages. Different family circumstances call for different answers to this question.

I will say, however, that far too often the reasons for not having more children are so selfish. When our son was an only child, I got comments all the time about how nice it was that we were able to afford for me to stay at home. That would always make me laugh. The person making such comments would often be a parent of 1, maybe two, with a big house, two vehicles and a boat in the garage. We, at the time, had to borrow money to move to where my husband had found full-time employment and lived in a run-down trailer full of mice with our older car parked out front. Yes, I could certainly afford to stay at home!

I’ve never seen the Duggar’s show but, from most accounts that I’ve heard, the family is close-knit and Mrs. Duggar is able to manage it all. It seems pretty presumptuous for strangers to accuse them of having too many children.

God has had us planned and written on the palm of His hand before our conception. I want to scream at the pundits in Washington who wonder who is going to pay for medicare. Wouldn’t, strictily, from an economic view we be better off if the over 50,000,000 people aborted had been allowed to live and pay taxes?
  Large families have large hearts. God bless them everyone!!

I am not Catholic, but know that the Lord opens and closes the womb. Michelle Duggar is one of the most blessed ladies on earth. I have worked with several families who are letting God determine thier family size(some have 15 children) and they are lovely families-happy, helpful, intelligent and fun to be around! Once I finish my midwifery studies, I hope to help many more families like the Duggars grow as large as the Lord wants them to be! May the Duggars inspire more people to have larger families- those parents won’t need social security, they will have it in thier children! :)

They are a very nice family with great values - on that note- when does it become selfish of the Jim and Michelle to keep having these babies. She is in constant pregnancy euphoria and never comes out of it.
They are blessed - they are blessed their kids are healthy - wow many of us have problems with one or two children. This is a ticking bomb - our bodies our not made to produce like this. You do not need to use BC to not get pregnant. Think about it adults.

it becomes irresponsible when you put other human beings’ life in danger, that is what they are doing. its a shame that after their daughter dies, they are going to keep popping out kids! and whats even worse is my tax dollars are funding their irresponsibility…
its time for a vasectomy if Jimbob can’t keep it in his pants! seriously! enough already!

My parents were married in 1933 at the young age of sixteen.  During their blessed marriage they had seventeen children. The reason that they had so many children? They believed it to be a sin to prevent life from coming into the world.  According to their Catholic faith, children were an act of God.
My father served in World War II and was called again to active duty in the Korean War while he (then) had eight children.  He followed through the call as a “duty with honor.”  He fought for our Country.  He believed in peace, liberty, and justice for all.  While he fought he was wounded from a mine that exploded and left the entire back of his body covered in shrapnel.  The benefits and awards that were given to him were not monetary or gold, but in his eyes the experience was sacred wisdom of being able to be there supporting his young Army mates who he saw die or lay wounded.  Even though he was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds physically and mentally, he still needed to work to provide an income for his family regardless to what shape he came home in.  His Army pension was not nearly enough to buy a week worth of groceries, never mind enough to raise his large family.  But he was grateful for the small sum he received (that stayed the same over the years), regardless of any changes in the economy or the growing family. 
He was a gifted artist who painted murals on churches, restaurants, and social halls in the city of Philadelphia.  He painted some of the scenery displays at the Academy of Natural Science in Center City.  He was offered to paint for the Walt Disney Studios, but declined the position as this would take him away from the responsibilities he viewed as most important, helping raise seventeen children. The most important person in his life was mom, and he valued every day that he spent with her and his children.  And most of all he respected her role in motherhood as the highest a woman can achieve.  We grew up seeing how very much in love they were and honor and ‘reward’ the role of motherhood to this day.
My mother was a very joyful person and loved children.  She never had the time for any interest outside the house.  Her interest was in her family that kept her quite busy.  She found it very hard to accept any help, donations, or charity from those who were not in our immediate family.  And the few times that she had to turn for help, (when dad’s paintings were not called on), I recalled sadness as though it were an enduring time for her.  She actually turned down the opportunity to be on a famous television show, “Queen for a Day”.  (A daytime television show that awarded mothers for their excellent roles in giving to others.)  She thought it would take her away from her most important responsibilities of raising her children.  (Even though everyone said she’d win, and probably win big!)  She never expected anyone other than herself to take care of us.  Her only dependence was on God.  And by the Grace of God, she did it miraculously!
Although most people can relate to one another in the ways they are brought up, I have never been able to relate to anyone!  I am the middle child of seventeen children.  We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but I had the greatest childhood that you could ever imagine.  With more than enough love to go around.  Kindness, is what I noticed most of all. Kindness, consideration,  and appreciation for others brought me Home. 
All that I know for sure was that my parents were able not only to feed us and clothe us, but feed others in my neighborhood, as well.  Even with supporting such a large family through the small pension and the sporadic income from my dad, there was never a word spoken in our home about not having enough of anything!  We were forbidden to speak those words.  It was more important for my parents to feed and help others, rather than spoil us children with material things that held no value.
Maybe we lacked further education as compared to the family of today, ‘which I believe is needed.’  But we didn’t miss out on any virtues in courage, compassion, kindness, honesty, forgiveness, manners, helpfulness, justice, charity, love, hope, appreciation, and most important of all,  faith in God.  And in all honesty, without these virtues, there is no life, regardless of what schools we attend. We all need the Sacred to educate us. 
It is truly a blessing to share my back story here. My mother since passed on in 1977 and my father passed on in 1988.  I also lost 3 siblings in the past few years. There are 14 of us still living; age ranging from 51 to 70 years old.  It is quite a miraculous family to be born in. I feel blessed to be one among them.

Thank God for the courageous testimony of the Duggars! I watch their show whenever I can because they teach me so much about how to raise a godly family with love and grace. God continues to bless them through the suffering of hate and judgment delivered by people who have no right or cause to do so.

I love the Duggars, though the show is sometimes on too late to watch in prime time.

Michelle is in her mid-40’s, so she can’t have many more anyway.  Only God decides that one.

Pretty soon, that big expansive house they built will be too small for all the kids, let alone the grand kids…oh well!  They may have to build another house (which I think is the plan anyway).

I think Michelle should have ONE more, a boy to even out the genders of the children.

Sometimes I wish I had more siblings than just a brother.  Maybe not 18, but more than one.

There’s strength in numbers, so there you go…

The life of a baby doesn’t have a price, it is a benediction, no matter the number.  Blessed be this family

What “if” Saint Catherine’s parents thought that 23 were enough?

Who is Saint Catherine of Siena?

“Originally named Caterina Benincasa, she was the 24th child born into her family in Siena, Italy, in 1347. She later became a lay member of the Dominican Order. Catherine cared for terminally ill patients, ministered to those on death row, and provided spiritual direction to men and women in search of God. Though she lacked formal education, she is known for her many letters sent to men and women of all walks of life. The letters, filled with wisdom and spiritual guidance, were the fruit of her own relationship with God. Catherine is best remembered for “The Dialogue,” which contains the intimate conversations or prayers that she and God shared with each other. Catherine died in 1380 at age 33.”

To CATHERINENAGLE:  Wow - what a powerful testimony to the power of life.  I just loved reading the history of your family.  Would that all parents had the fortitude and strength that your parents had and passed on to their children.  What a different world this would be, indeed!

I know this will not be a popular response, but I think you can have too many kids. Some people may be able to be great parents to a large amount of children, but not everyone is capable of parenting a large amount of children. I know many wonderful large families, but I also now many large families where the children’s emotional needs are not being met and the parents are constantly overwhelmed with the needs of their children. Some people believe that a large family automatically equals a happy family, but sadly this is not always true.

As of 12:30 PM on 2-10-10 the world population is 6,801,918,458. There are 6 BILLION people on earth, human beings from newborns to the elderly who need food, shelter, love, education, health care, meaningful work to do, and a myriad of other physical and emotional supports. Each one of us uses the earth’s precious resources, and we Americans use more than any one else on the planet. Wars have been fought over oil. By all predictions, an inadequate supply of water is a looming world crisis. Do any of us have the right to have 19 children? or 10? or 5? I would argue that the moral number of offspring per person is one: replace yourself. I would suggest that a truer goodness and kindness would not be to repeatedly reproduce ourselves, but to use the resources - both time and money - we would be spending on diapers, food, gas, cars, heat, housing and education for our 5 or 10 or 19 children, and contribute to those already on the earth who have so little. Children who are found suckling on the breasts of their dead mothers. Children with big eyes and bigger bellies distended with starvation. Yes, God told Noah to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” I think we can check that off the To Do list. We’ve done it. The earth is populated, but we have done a poor job of feeding and caring for those who are here. Where is the holiness or the Christianity in allowing so many children to go to bed hungry every night? I do not believe that having one couple produce one baby after another is God’s will. From every way I look at it having 19 babies is a way for the Duggars to continually look at themselves in the mirror. Bearing that many children is self-serving and egotistical, and, even worse, just another way to get a spot on TV.

Population isn’t the problem distribution is. Japan is one of the most densely populated places on the planet and they aren’t starving or killing each other for food.

You could fit everyone on the planet in Texas with plenty of elbow room so we aren’t even close to filling the Earth.

The criticism the Duggar’s get is no different than how NOW came out and said the Tebow superbowl commercial promoted violence toward’s women. But the same superbowl different commercial (for Snickers) did not? And NOW was silent about that one? Hypocrites.
watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlJJS11A73Q&feature=player_embedded

Children are a blessing from God! There are those who make choices to abort babies,  and in that number are doctors, nurses, tax payers, consumers, some with minds that may have developed may different cures for things.  For a family to receive all that God want to give them, should be commended. There has been some who think that the world is over populated.  Not so!  Many collect in the big cities, but there is plenty of land.  Some areas of the world has changed dramaticly with dug wells.  Give a man a fish and you have feed him for a day,  teach him to fish and you feed him for a life time.  Teach him to sell those fish and he now becomes a businessman who can buy steak!  It is always easier to be a critic,  the only guide line to judge by is the Bible.  We will all stand before God.  He has made it clear there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun,  Jesus is the way!  He Loves Children so shouldn’t you!

God bless the Duggars!

We have seven children and could have more: we’re open to it. I’d say, ‘too many children’ is reached when you don’t have enough money, or time, or love to give them. The kicker for me, though, is we have become better parents with each new child. In my opinion, our youngest is the luckiest one of all.

I know it may sound arrogant—and there is not time to explain it here—but the world needs lots more American Catholics. Our child—both as Americans and as Roman Catholics—have a lot to offer the future of the world.

Large families do seem to uncover the “secrets of the hearts” of many.

I agree with CatholicRN’s post.

With 6 billion people, this world is already overpopulated.  Within the next few generations the earth’s population is predicted to increase so much so that much of the earth’s resources will be exhausted and life will become much more unbearable for most of the earth’s inhabitants.

The Duggars aren’t helping the situation by having as many children as they can solely for attention and money.

@scout You may agree but you have nothing to base that belief on. People like you have been predicting the end of humanity due to overpopulation since the 1800’s.

Repeat after me. It-isn’t-a-population-problem. It’s-a-distribution-problem.

For those of us who are open to life, the Duggar family is a testament to the power of faith and family. In this culture of death, which has for so long now followed “chicken little” doomsday predictions, hearts have become like stone.
The truth is, the earth has plenty of resources, some of which are yet to be discovered. The truth is the earth was created for humans. We give God the greatest delight because we are created in His image and likeness. Human beings are the world’s greatest natural resource.
For all the “chicken littles” out there, remember one thing. Families like the Duggars are going to pass on there values to their progeny, who will pass it on to theirs, etc. Since the “chicken littles” are sterilizing and contracepting and aborting their progeny out of existence, their “values” will die right along with them. Anotherwords, in the end, joyful, self-sacrificing families like the Duggars, WIN!!
God Bless large families, each and every one!!!

The Good Lord said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”.  Children are a blessing from God with infinite value and dignity.  I think the Duggers have a lovely family and they have a God-given right to have as many children as God will bring them.                        On the other hand, we must pray for the the gruesome people of the Culture of Death.  They have no life in them and are seemingly headed on the path of perdition.

It is not up to us to decide whether or not there are “too many people”.  We are not supposed to worry about the condition of the population.  God is the Author of life and He alone is the population controller Who will never steer us wrong.  Our duty is always to be open to life…period!  God bless the Duggers!

Eh, some of you below accuse these parents of being self-righteous in such a self-righteous tone. Of course it is uncommon to have so many children. That’s why it makes the news. Most of us don’t have that many children because we could never afford it or handle the responsibility. So, just be glad that having that many children isn’t the common thing to do and quit spouting off about these parents being selfish just because they have chosen to do things in a way that you, personally, might not understand or agree with. The Earth would be a boring, droll place if we were all the same, wouldn’t it? As for the babies suckling off dead mothers… Um, let me see.. You are saying that I don’t deserve to conceive more than once just because someone else has a poorly planned situation on their hands? Only the strong will survive. These parents are obviously much stronger than all of us put together. They built their own house with their own hands and used all of their own money to do it. It’s really none of our business if they want to have 50 babies. They didn’t create the mess that is starvation in Africa and I hardly think that they or their children should be linked to or held responsible for it.

My husband bought the magazine simply for the headline, which is exactly what People magazine wanted.  Good for the Duggars - they have their eye on the prize and don’t care what the world says.  Praise God that now, everyone in the world has their eyes on the Duggars and little Josie!  And, as my husband pointed out, how is #19 any less “valuable” or “worthy of life” than #1 or #2???

I have read all the comments posted and i can only say i hope that baby Josie gets well, both physically and mentally. I also understand that the Duggers are debt free and not a burden on society, that’s a good thing. but, what I am not hearing is what is their education, job skills and with so many children how can the parents raise them all…our the older children raising the younger ones…if that is the case then they are not being responsible parents. it is not up to the children to look after the other children in a parental role.

For catholicRN who claims that having more than one child per person is irresponsible…

As mentioned previously, the problem is not overpopulation but poor distribution. So many who refuse to share their wealth with others because they don’t think that the others “work hard enough” or that one can become self-sufficient if they work hard enough. Very short-sighted. There are many circumstances that life can throw at a person that will cause economic failure no matter how hard one works.

Katie of the blog “the Journey” says it better than I ever could. She has given up having a normal life to become a single, adoptive mother to 13 children in Uganda. She DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY CHILDREN ON EARTH. I’ll let her tell you why…

“That is 168.8 million needy children like Michael and Patricia. Seems like a big number, huh? It shouldn’t, because there are 2.1 BILLION people on this earth who profess to be Christians. Jesus followers. Servants. Gospel live-ers. And id only 8 percent of those Christians would care for just ONE of these needy children, they would all be taken care of.”

You can read more at: http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/2009/08/be-warned-i-always-re-read-things.html

Instead of paying too much for a nicer home, for a new car when your old one will do, for vacations to exotic locations, I wonder what we in these wealthy countries could do if we were more willing to share?

I should add to what I just wrote. Parents of large families learn quickly how to manage their resources better to stretch their income. Most parents of many that I’ve met are very generous, almost to a fault, with their time and resources. It is generally the single person or couples with few to no children who are less willing to part with what they have. I’m willing to bet that the Duggars probably share much more of their time and money than many with fewer children.

I think that as long as you can support the kids it is your business how many you have. By support I mean more then just finanically. Every member of the family deserves equal love and attention. As long as that is possible then leave them alone. As for Josie being early and oh so very small, let us pray for her and the family because as humans we should be hoping for the best for others not critizing what they have. I wonder if people who are critical may be a little jealous, may they have no kids, they can’t support a family of that size, they would not be able to be as patient, the list could go on. I am a mother of only one child and I think that them being able to be blessed with so many is something to be cherished.

This is a very tough issue and there are three schools of thought on it. 1.) We all must be open to life, no matter what. 100% of the time a married couple has sex. And if a child is concieved through the act, it is a blessing on the marriage from God. And nothign will stop this cycle for a marrie dcouple, married love>sex>baby>repeat (i you want).
2.) Some couples know what their finacial and habitable conditions are, which only allows them a certain number of children at a time, so they get pregnant and then back off of sex for a time until they feel and pray that they are ready for the prospect of children.
3.) Use Natural Family Planning to manipulate the system
No matter what you believe, I say if the Duggars can support and properly raise 19 kids, more power to them. They are a witness of life and parenthood to us all. If they cant, they are not being responsible. Responsibility and Respect for the act must also be considered. I mean, a married couple cant have sex any night they want. That’s just not respectable and prudent. Maybe they should give sex up for lent, as most married couples should, and maybe hold off on it even after Easter Sunday. That’s actually a good idea, fasting from sex for a married couple….. : )

I find it interesting that the commenters who believe that the Duggars are ‘wrong’ have a very angry tone to their posts, while those who believe in God’s will for a family have such joy in their posts.

It’s not God. It’s biology. You have sex at the right time of the month and you are going to get preganant unless you are taking measures to prevent (and even then you aren’t guarenteed).

On lifenews it asks about right to privacy. She gave that up when she sold her pictures to People.

>>”...the parents raise them all…our the older children raising the younger ones…if that is the case then they are not being responsible parents. it is not up to the children to look after the other children in a parental role.”<<
Why can’t the older ones look after the younger ones?  I see nothing wrong with it.  The older kids are plenty able, and the responsibility is something a teen relishes. This has gone on from time immemorial.  And, with the current lack of big families, this valuable set-up is disappearing.  Too bad for our society.

I dont think its anyones business how many children the Duggers want to have. They are well taken care of so why should it matter? They are good hearted people who love their kids, so people should really stop criticizing them.

FYI -  Regarding the “population myth”….my husband once pointed out to me that Pope Paul IV’s encyclical Humanae Vitae and Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb were both released in the same year;  and, interestingly, Pope Paul VI’s predictions have ALL come true, while NONE of Ehrlich’s have.

FYI (corrected typo :-)  -  Regarding the “population myth”...my husband once pointed out to me that Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humanae Vitae and Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb were both released in the same year;  and, interestingly, Pope Paul VI’s predictions have ALL come true, while NONE of Ehrlich’s have.

Reply to: Posted by Kristen J on Tuesday, Feb 9, 2010 2:17 PM (EST) (reply is to anyone else this applies to). God alone does not decide if you will have a child, or another child. The responsibility starts with the man and woman. If you don’t have sexual intercourse, God won’t “give” you any!! YOU (and your man) have your part, and responsibility, in having a child.

On the sidebar of most popular posts, it includes the title and then the number of comments.  So for this one, it said, “How Many Kids Are Too Many? (8655)”  And I thought, “yeah, that’s about right.”

The Duggers are a loving family.  They take care of their own, love one another, contribute to the community at large and seek God.  The world needs more people like that, not fewer.

Congrats to the Duggers…you have a great big healthy family…accept the last little baby…and may God bless you and may she get healthy… Do you think that maybe God is trying to say that this is enough, your body Mrs Dugger is changing, as it does in all women your age and up. Maybe your body is telling you that it is time to stop and take care of all the beautiful gifts (children) you already have. what ever you decide, God bless and may your family live, love and always be healthy.

Who can have this much sex anyways? Unless they’ve only had sex 19 times and everytime they got pregnant, is this all they do? is this all their marriage is about, pregnancy and child rearing? who can have sex this much?

Maybe the last child was a God’s sign that 19 is enough. If it was meant to be it would be born full term as it is supposed to. That child would not survive if it was not for a modern medicine. Maybe they should take the hint and stop. Not to mention their impact on the environment. They are being very selfish!

@Berry Murphy: So if you have a premature birth you should stop having kids? That seems to be reading too much into things.

The Duggars probably use fewer resources per person than most households that are far smaller. I know that we do.

If you are so concerned about the environment, what have you done? Do you have kids? Do you drive? Do you use electricity? Selfish, selfish, selfish!

I think that the Duggars are awesome people.All of their children are very well cared for.Iamin awe of them.I wish that I could be more like them.I love everything about them.They live Christ centered lives.They are the best in my opinion.

you know you have too many kids when you can 1)barely can take care of yourself. 2) Dont have a job. 3) Dont have a Car. 4) Dont have a place. 5) and you’re dependent on your mom now that is having too many kids unless you have a decent stable household and have somewhere to work at and at least a car then I see nothing wrong with having more kids. just as long as you can afford to have more kids. but when you cant afford it and other people have to pick up your end of the slack I found it irresponsible and despicable.

Using religion as an excuse to have more kids is pathetic.  Those who keep having multiple kids are irresponsible and would fail a test to see if they TRULY know each and every one of their kids’ personalities, etc.

You’re going to listen to someone, like the Pope, who doens’t have the responsiblity of caring for a family, nurturing children and who dresses in red Gucci shoes with gold buckles every day preaching what you should and shouldn’t do!? How sad.

@Maria: Well it sounds to me like you dont have a nurturing, caring spirit at all! First of all, the Pope doesnt tell us what to do and what not to do, the living word/doctrine of the church tells us the truth of such things and issues. Secondly, how do you know parents of 8, 9, 10+ kids dont have personal, intimate relationships with their kids and know their personalities? Maybe these parents have a better understanding and love of their children than parents of small families. Do you have research to back up your boisterous claims? And please dont come on here and insult our holy father, not only is that not appreciated, youre writting on a catholic website!

Maria – “Using religion as an excuse to have more kids is pathetic.”

Try again.  Our biology puts A LOT of energy INTO reproduction, beginning with MONTHLY cycles in the female.  It is nature that is hinting that REPRODUCTION is IMPORTANT.  Nature says it is important to have children.  Nature is such that those women who do NOT bear children end up having some higher cancer risks.  A woman’s body is designed to bear children and IS EXPECTING to bear children.  This is simply the TRUTH that our Catholic faith acknowledges.

Maria, again – “Those who keep having multiple kids are irresponsible and would fail a test to see if they TRULY know each and every one of their kids’ personalities, etc.”

Huh? How would you even measure such a thing?  And, how would you measure the importance of such a thing?  As a mother of many, I can attest that I most certainly know my kids.  And guess what – they know each other!!  Actually, to play with your idea – surely it must all come out in the wash because there are so many – not just the 2 parents and only 1 sibling – who are KNOWING and LOVING each other!

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