“Mother with 18 children all with ‘J’ names is pregnant again – and is expecting grandchild… to be christened with letter ‘M’”

The couple, of Springdale, Arkansas, are not only looking forward to the birth of their 19th child in March, but also their first grandchild. 

Judging by the various comments at the end of this article, the size of the Duggard brood appears to be very controversial.  Many people question the mother’s need to continually reproduce.  Many question the amount of love and attention that each individual child is able to receive from the parents, and criticise the stance that the older ones can help bring up the younger ones.  Others believe that bringing so many children into an over-populated world is incredibley selfish.

I have read several articles in recent months, stressing the need for parents to limit the number of children they have to just two.  Although I can appreciate that the growing global population is a problem, the idea of governments dictating the size of families we have makes me very uncomfortable.  Do we really want to adopt the strict one-child policy of China?  I have read many heartrending stories from desperate Chinese families.  I certainly wouldn’t want to live in that culture or environment.

As far as I can see, the Duggards seem like an incredibly close and loving family.  They live in a debt-free house they built themselves.  The father works to provide for his family.

They are Conservative Christians, who decided after suffering a miscarraige earlier in their marriage to ‘let God decide’ how many children they would have.  The couple adhere to a movement called Quiverfull, whose members take seriously the biblical exhortation to be fruitful and multiply.  They believe that every child is a gift from Providence.

Their lifestyle choice may not appeal to everyone, but it is certainly not a terrible lifestyle.  

I believe that the ‘overpopulation arguments’ against these rare enormous families are cancelled out by the growing number of women who decide not to have children.  That is their rights, just as it is the Duggards right to have their enormous brood.  They have the space and money to do so.  They’re not doing anyone any harm.

However, many families simply cannot afford to be fruitful and multiply.  Problems can arise when couples have too many children, and not enough space to house them.  If you were to look at social housing waiting lists in any local authority in the UK, I will guarantee that they are full of families, headed by both couples and single parents, who have had children without the space or money to house them.  Many of these families will be on full social security benefits, many with none of the parents working.

I’m certainly more objectionable to couples who think they can have as many children as they want, while Society houses them and pays them.  People who do not equate having children with earning a living. 

It’s a touchy subject, but I welcome any constructive comments you may have.

Read more of the Daily Mail article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1210530/Jim-Bob-Michelle-Duggar-excecting-19th-child–grandchild.html#ixzz0Pwoqc5JQ