How Many Babies?

[ljohnson2006]

How many babies will Anna have before she has a J'Chelle like melt down? I say that she'll be pregnant either by the end of the year, or early next year. She should be able to stand up to Smugger and say that three kids is enough. I wonder when Smugger is going to stop acting like he's a big shot for this company that he works for. He got the job because of his name. Anyone who thinks that he's actually qualified for it, is sadly mistaken. I wonder what crazy M names Smugger and Anna will come up with. Maybe they'll break tradition and go with another letter.

[anjulibai]

I don't think Anna will have a meltdown. There are too many J'slaves that can be farmed out to help her once she reaches 6 or so kids.

I'm also sure she'll have another baby sometime next year, though I hope it'll be longer. So far, her kids have been somewhat more widely spaced than Michelle and Jim Bob's. We'll see, though.

As for crazy baby names, I'm thinking weird spellings for girls' names like Madison or Madeleine and Biblical names for boys, like Matthew or Mikah.

[docmom]

I don't think Anna will have a meltdown. There are too many J'slaves that can be farmed out to help her once she reaches 6 or so kids.

I'm also sure she'll have another baby sometime next year, though I hope it'll be longer. So far, her kids have been somewhat more widely spaced than Michelle and Jim Bob's. We'll see, though.

As for crazy baby names, I'm thinking weird spellings for girls' names like Madison or Madeleine and Biblical names for boys, like Matthew or Mikah.

Maybe it'll be quads. I'm thinking Mahdysyyn, Mahdylyynn, Myatthyw and Mycyah

[singsingsing]

I think there are at least a few key differences between Anna and Michelle:

1. Anna was raised in this lifestyle. She seems to like it and has chosen to remain in it, whereas Michelle converted out of fear and still has that convert mentality.

2. Anna seems to genuinely love and enjoy her children, whereas I think Michelle liked how having so many children showed how religious she was.

3. Anna and Josh are much better off than Michelle and Jim Bob were at their age. They have more money, more help, and less stress.

I think it's too soon to predict what kind of names they'll give their future children. The trend hasn't appeared yet. I just hope the future girls don't all get Mac/McK names.

It's also too soon to guess how long it will take her to get pregnant again. The space between Michael and Marcus might have been an anomaly. Still, I'd predict she won't get pregnant till sometime next year, maybe around Marcus's first birthday. Guess we'll see.

[realist51]

According to that post written by Anna's brother-in-law after her wedding, Anna, of all the Keller kids, truly DOES want lots of kids. I can't fault her for that if they can take care of them. And she does seem to be a relaxed and dedicated mother. I really felt bad for her, though, in those shots of her getting on the subway with the double stroller and the infant strapped to her chest.

[anjulibai]

I don't think Anna is that fertile or that unlucky. Spellings might be right, though.

I don't know why, but I have a feeling Anna and Josh will have a lot of boys.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I think Anna might do better than Michelle, she seems like she really loves kids. Anna and Josh have a huge supportive family-Josh has 18 siblings and we know that the older girls have been going to help out. Also Anna knows that if she decides to stop at four or five, she will still be accepted-her parents still seem to love her non fundie siblings, and fear is a reason why a lot of unhappy fundies stay. I think she has more of a choice than most people who were raised fundie, as the Kellers seem a lot nicer and more accepting of the non fundie family members. We have seen that they are still in contact with the siblings who left the lifestyle, and havent shunned them or anything.

They also have a way better life, theyre not living in a tiny house on a small income, and having to buy cheap second hand clothing. They also have more freedom and seem more normal than Michelle and Jimbob were, so they do know they are capable of making choices that their religion is against, even if it has started with small things like watching TV and Josh wearing shorts.

[freehannie]

I think it will be interesting to see if the move to D.C. doesn't have some effect on Anna's beliefs. In Arkansas, their lifestyle was supported by a larger number of family caregivers available when Anna needed help, relatively cheap living conditions, and more cultural support for that lifestyle in the area. Also, Josh's car lot job was a lot more flexible than his current employment, so he was around more often.

I know Josh and Anna have been hosting relatives a lot since the move, but that probably will decrease over time. Once Anna has to be responsible primarily for the care of all the children in a cultural environment not set up to encourage large families, a higher cost of living, more opportunity costs for having such a large family, and interaction with a lot more people who have made different choices that don't live up to the rhetoric of being completely evil sinners, she might decide to limit the size of the family.

I really think that having a large family like that is dependent on a lot of structural variables that were in place in Arkansas but aren't in D.C. and not just personal commitment, as much as the Duggars like to think it is all personal commitment. After all, a lot of the quiverfull rhetoric is in response to those cultural variables changing and it becoming less and less likely that people will have large families. Of course, they are much more likely to blame selfish feminists for these changes and criticize people who make other choices, it really is much more dependent on these larger things.

Of course, Anna has the added pressure of belonging to family famous for its pro-life, anti-birth control message and her husband's job depends upon living up to this image. However, it is possible that once Josh is exposed to more nuanced views he also will shift and could move to working for a more mainline organization.

[singsingsing]

I can definitely see Josh and Anna moving away from ATI. I think they will always be very conservative Christians, but I can see them drifting more into the Focus on the Family sort of range. This will allow them to appear modern and bring them more in line with the people they're around, while still holding to their conservative ideology. I doubt they would ever start using birth control, though. Not there was a serious medical issue, and then I can see them allowing it, maybe.

[anjulibai]

Yeah, I don't see them ever intentionally limiting the number of kids they have. I'm sure Anna is already peeing on sticks.

[Violet]

I rather get the impression from Josh's comments on the show that he'd be quite happy if they didn't have any more children. Anna, on the other hand, seems to want a lot of children. Whether that will change once she starts having to educate Mack full time whilst looking after toddlers and babies, I don't know. I just hope Anna and their children don't end up in the same situation as Esther.

[Dandruff]

I think Anna wants lots of kids but Josh doesn't care either way. The family may not be visiting forever, especially if the show ends and Josh's older sisters get married, so Anna could have her hands full (and not like it). She's also probably not as fertile as Michelle, if only because most women aren't. I can see them with a total of maybe 6 - 8.

[anjulibai]

I think when the show ends, Josh and Anna will move back to Arkansas. I also think at some point a second TTH will be built, though perhaps not as big.