The Woman With 17 Kids!

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Just when you think you heard it all--along comes the Duggar family to blow your minds!

On August 3rd, this family welcomed a baby girl into their lives. "What's the big deal" you may ask? Well, no big deal, really--unless you consider the fact this is the familys' 17th child--ALL from the same mom and dad!

They're christian, they seem like a really nice and loving family, and all the kids have names that start with the letter "J" (Who would have thought there were that many "J" names in the world, eh?)

Instead of gravedigging, I decided to just create a new thread on the topic and and add a poll: Do you think that 17 is too many?

[USSRGirl]

o______o 17 diapers to change, 17 screaming brats, and later 17 moody teens. EEK! Then again, families have gotten smaller here in America. I some countries 17 kids still wouldn't be that big of a deal. I wonder if they forget their names ever.... XD

[RobinSena]

I kind of wonder how much attention each child gets from the mom and dad.. I'm all for big families(I'm 1 of 8 kids. =P) but 17 seems too big to me.. =/

[KeybladeWarrior]

I wish that family the best of luck. It will be heck for them raising all those kids.

[mathgrant]

It depends on the family. If they can raise 17 children, then that's great. Otherwise, for their sakes and the children's sakes, they should consider putting the excess kids up for adoption. I guess. I dunno, I'm no parenting expert.

I personally don't know if I could handle one child. XD

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I think it's part of their ultimate plan to form some sort of family clan. Those 17 kids will eventually each have 15+ kids, and then those kids will have 15+ kids, and BAM! You got the Duggar clan!

[KhakiBlueSocks]

o______o 17 diapers to change, 17 screaming brats, and later 17 moody teens. EEK! Then again, families have gotten smaller here in America. I some countries 17 kids still wouldn't be that big of a deal. I wonder if they forget their names ever.... XD

Well, the kids wern't born at the same time, so they didn't have to change 17 at once. Talk about counting your blessings.

Looking at the documentary, they look pretty happy--albeit slightly constricted and a little stuffy. They remind me of a modern-day "Waltons".

[USSRGirl]

And the Dugger clan runs for office, takes over the world, and becomes the Dugger dynasty.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

And the Dugger clan runs for office, takes over the world, and becomes the Dugger dynasty.

They got enough kids to start their own small neighborhood! Oh yeah, here are their names, in order of oldest to youngest thanks to Wiki:

Joshua Duggar
John David Duggar
Janna Duggar
Jill Duggar
Jessa Duggar
Jinger Duggar
Joseph Duggar
Josiah Duggar
Joy-Anna Duggar
Jedidiah Duggar
Jeremiah Duggar
Jason Duggar
James Duggar
Justin Duggar
Jackson Duggar
Johannah Duggar
Jennifer Duggar

Who would've thought that there were that many "J" names in existance?

And it's funny that you mention "Running for office": Jim Bob Duggar, (Dad) ran for the senate in 2002 and lost. One wonders if the kids were able to vote, would they've won him the election?

[Nate]

I could never do it.

But hey, if that's their calling from the Lord, I wish them luck. LOTS of luck. Can you imagine paying for college for 17 kids?

[Alexander]

I personally could only handle 3 children if I ever were to get married. As for the family of 17, if thats what God is calling them for then I see no problem.

Hmmm, I wonder how someone with Asperger's would live in a family that large? XD

[ADXC]

Wow, I never knew there was a family that large. Hey my name starts with a "J" as well. But I didn't see my name up there. Quite personally I think that is too much, but if the Lord has a purpose for each and everyone of them, then I guess its okay. But still though, I would never want to have that many children. Im thinking 2 children for me in the future, thats if I have a choice in the matter.

[Shinja]

being homeschooled i know personally there are alot of families out there with 10-14 kids ive never known any with 17 but hey after 10 im sure thats not much differant, and some of them are allready in thier 20's so its not like 17 toddlers to deal with. the J name thing is kinda wierd. though jedidiah is a cool name

[Radical Dreamer]

If they have the money to raise the kids, then sure, go for it. XD I only have a problem with it if the family is struggling financially and is still set on having a ton of kids to raise. You can't take care of that many kids with a very limited budget. o_o

[Nia-chan]

They better have a big house and a lot of money. And where did they get "Jinger" from?

[Alexander]

They better have a big house and a lot of money. And where did they get "Jinger" from?

SOMEONE in the family has to like anime. XD

[Nia-chan]

SOMEONE in the family has to like anime. XD

:O

Oh, now it's all making sense... it's "Jinger" as in "Ginger".. and it's a girl

<_< >_> That would make it a little less weird, thanks hun

[chelle0227]

Personally I don't even want 1 kid let alone 17. There is no way I could handle that. But if the family is able to take care of them. Good luck.

[mitsuki lover]

As a male I can't imagine any female wanting to be pregnant half
the time like that.Certainly if I were a woman instead of a man I wouldn't want to spend half my time pregnant.It would seem to me to be a bit uncomfortable after awhile plus you would need help.
That said if and when I marry I just want to have two kids like my sisters.I want a couple of nice,sweet,pretty and intelligent daugthers.

[Raiden no Kishi]

How the heck many jobs does the father have to work in order to feed them? Sheesh! XD

If they're able to pull it off, more power to them, but I wouldn't ever have that many kids. I don't think it's fair to have your attention split so many different ways. Do you end up ever really getting to personally connect with them all? Do they all really get access to their parents? I like the idea of around 3 kids; that way, you can really spend individual time with all of them, but they all grow up learning how to deal with more people and their needs/wants/idiotsyncracies*. That's one thing I feel that I, as an only child, could have definitely gained were I one of a group of siblings. However, my mother wasn't physicaly supposed to be able to conceive or give birth, so it was highly unlikely that I would exist, let alone more. I'm grateful just to be alive.

In conclusion, I have this to say:

1] I hope the parents are able to raise all 17 kids while still being able to personally attend to all of them.

2] Naming all your kids with names starting with the same letter is really dorky.

3] I will never have 17 kids. EVER.

.rai//

[Alice]

In my experience, people with lots of kids tend to be more serious about caring for them and giving them love. Plus, the siblings all have each other, as built-in friends. In general kids in big families really learn to get along with people well.

If you can afford to care for them, I don't think there's anything wrong with having lots of kids.

Actually, I wonder what's wrong with our society where it seems to be more socially acceptable to make fun of large families than to have large families.

I'm sure no one here would do this, but I have actually overheard people making snide comments about a pregnant woman, just because she had several kids already. I mean, come on! Whose business is it, anyway? If the kids weren't being cared for properly, that would be different. I mean, really, pregnant women have enough to deal with already.

When my sister was little, and my mother was pregnant with me, my mom would get ugly looks and comments sometimes just going to the grocery store, because my sister is handicapped. Did the people think I would be handicapped, too? Was it any of their business?

Since when did family size become everybody's business? I guess some people figure the world is too crowded already, and nobody should have kids anymore.

In God's word, children are a blessing and a great gift. When people accept that view, yeah, they might have large families. I've never heard of one of them that regretted it.

[Nikolai Melodie]

I personally don't mind, so long as the kids are cared for and really respected as people... but 17? That's a bit much. Sure, big families, a lot of love to go around, but having 19 people in a house hold? It's a little too crazy for me, and honestly, all I can see is in the future, one of those kids is gonna have some serious "Mommy and Daddy don't love me," issues.

Oh and um...this may start a bit of debate; which I don't mean to so please don't, but I know that the father of that family works in the government with a lot of Anti-Abortion campaigns. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's wonderful, but it almost seems like he just keeps expanding his family for political reasons. That's why I'm a bit worried about them being able to divide love equally and such.

Erm, btw, anyone else noticed that the mom of that house hold looks pretty well-off for someone who had 17?! Go her! xD

[WrestlingOtaku]

I'll beat them and have 24 kids!!

[Taliesin]

O.O is that even possible??

[Ingemar]

I'm sure no one here would do this, but I have actually overheard people making snide comments about a pregnant woman, just because she had several kids already. I mean, come on! Whose business is it, anyway? If the kids weren't being cared for properly, that would be different. I mean, really, pregnant women have enough to deal with already.

When my sister was little, and my mother was pregnant with me, my mom would get ugly looks and comments sometimes just going to the grocery store, because my sister is handicapped. Did the people think I would be handicapped, too? Was it any of their business?

That really, really is terrible. I don't have a problem with people who don't want to have kids, but I do have a problem with people who try to force this prejudice onto others. [strike]which is why I do not like China's one-child policy no matter what justification they give for it.[/strike]

Since when did family size become everybody's business? I guess some people figure the world is too crowded already, and nobody should have kids anymore.

I may make a lot of enemies for this, but I believe this started from busibodies amongst the would-be world changers who feel that the human race is detrimental to the health of the planet. I cannot support any environmentalist movement that is so intrinsically misanthropic.

EDIT: J.S. Bach had twenty children (many of them died) and he was cool.

[Nate]

Somehow I'm reminded of Beavis.

"I just wanna be a father...like, over and over again."

[mitsuki lover]

Somehow I'm reminded of Beavis.

"I just wanna be a father...like, over and over again."

That's because the man has all the fun,it's the woman who has to do all the work.I think that's why it's called 'labor'.

btw:I can understand in Colonial and Pioneer Days why they would want large families since illness and accidents and other things carried off a lot of
children and replacements were needed,but in today's world where we are being told the population is getting to the point of overcrowding in many
places?

[AsianBlossom]

I think it's wonderful that they have such a large family. Sure, it may be crazy at times, but it seems they're able to work things out. I'm sure homeschooling helps as well, teaching the kids to be organized, as well as allowing the older ones to be at home and help with the younger ones. It's refreshing to see a family so blessed by God and actually accepting every little blessing. ^^

[KBMaster]

Wow! That sure is a lot of kids! I wonder if they all fight a lot....

I think their parents are very blessed to have that many kids and I think the kids are very blessed to have that many siblings(although I'm sure it's not seen that way 99% of the time).

[Alice]

I may make a lot of enemies for this, but I believe this started from busibodies amongst the would-be world changers who feel that the human race is detrimental to the health of the planet. I cannot support any environmentalist movement that is so intrinsically misanthropic.

I think that's a really good way of putting it.