Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar announced Tuesday on the “Today” show that they are expecting their 20th child. The reality show stars from TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” were joined by their children and two grandchildren on the morning show, where they told host Ann Curry they were excited about the new addition.
Lisa de Moraes of the TV Column notes the ironic timing of the news:
In one of those incredible coincidences that make covering the TV biz so existential, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar decided to announce they were expecting No. 20 on the VERY SAME day TLC had scheduled the fifth season finale of “19 and Counting” about the extremely prolific Duggars.
I mean, what are the odds?!
Serious questions naturally followed the Duggars’ happy tidings, like, is there enough room? And as Moraes proposed, was this planned?
Michelle explained that this latest child came as something of a surprise since this was the first time she’d gone 16-18 months without being pregnant in, like, forever, “so we were really kind of thinking [No. 19] might be our last, and that was kinda sad,” she said, surrounded by her19 children, and a couple grandchildren to boot.
The question of planning is a fairly straightforward one for the Duggars, who have been vocal about their choice to avoid birth control. The couple made the decision early in their marriage, says Elizabeth Tenety of Under God:
The reality TV stars have eschewed birth control since their unplanned second pregnancy ended in a miscarriage — a tragedy that they believe could have been caused by the birth control pill Michelle was taking at the time.
But what lies beneath the Duggars’ fecundity? It’s one thing to be skeptical of hormonal methods of contraception; it’s another to open your lives to 20 children. What do the Duggars believe about pregnancy prevention?
The couple says they believe children are a gift from God, which all parents would likely agree with. However, the decision on whether to expand a family is more difficult for others, says Janice D’Arcy of On Parenting:
In many circumstances, family size is not a choice. Health, belief and partner circumstance can all make the decisions for us. But where it is a variable to be considered, parents have a slew of issues to consider. What’s interesting is that so many of us end up making such similar decisions: between one and four children. It’s within those bounds that most American parents tend to grapple.
The latest census figures suggest that quite a few Americans are holding the line at two.
But the factors influencing that decision are extensive, D’Arcy explains. Family dynamics are one major influence; income is another.
Not all parents consider finances a valid reason to limit (or expand) family size. The Duggars, obviously, don’t. Bryan Caplan, a father of three and an economist, argues that it actually makes more financial sense to expand a family.
He lays out his argument in a book, “ Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think ” (Basic Books, 2011). The book argues that nurture counts for very little in child-rearing and that parents can afford to kick back and relax their standards.
When Ann Curry put the same question to the Duggars, Michelle repeated the family motto: Buy used and save the difference.
For more on the Duggar family:
On Faith: What lies beneath the Duggars’ fecundity?
On Parenting: How do the rest of us decide how many?
Celebritology: Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar on “Today” (Video)
TLC’s ‘19 Kids and Counting’ wraps up for the season as the Duggars keep counting
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