19th Duggar is born

Michelle has got to be getting older. Don't the risk of birth defects and prematurity go up when you reach your late 30's/40's?

 

If the Duggars were the ones actually doing the physical work of raising the kids, yeah, it's not our business. But to me, making the older kids take care of them is a major issue.

If they want to have kids, then they should be up for the 2 a.m. feedings and diaper changes as well, and not outsource the job to one of the siblings.

 

I can understand this point, actually. I sure as hell would resent it if I were one of the older siblings.

Then again, the older they get, the closer they are to getting the fuck out and starting up their own clown corps.

 

Absolutely. The risk of Down's Syndrome goes way up after the mother turns 40, for example.

 

This was how kids were raised in America until the baby boom, affluence and female birth control.

 

Yeah, but that was because the parents were busy working on the farm and needed the assistance in order to survive, rather than continue having kids because of their religious beliefs and the 15 minutes of fame (or longer) that a reality show brings.

Plus the mortality rate of infants and children were much higher, so the odds of them surviving weren't as good. If a family had 19 living kids, it was because they were extremely lucky that none of them died from smallpox, or typhus, or any number of diseases.

 

Not sayin' I'd raise a family in that way or in that much volume. Just sayin' that it's a throwback, not an abomination. Members of "the greatest generation" were for the most part raised that way.