Alyssa Webster Pregnant Another Bates Grandbaby - MERGED

[Aggie2145]

Does anyone know how much US Magazine (or People or OK!, or any other mag) pays for "Exclusives" like the Alyssa baby announcement??

I honestly have no idea if we are talking $200 or $2000 or $20,000!

Or, does the payment for the "exclusive" go to the TLC (for Duggars) or UP Network (for Bates) and not to the subject of the exclusive?

I found this NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/busin ... .html?_r=0 but it is 6 years old, and is talking about major celebrities, not C list celebrities like the Duggars, or D list celebrities like the Bates!

I'm not sure what is more likely - that they were paid for the exclusive or UP gave the exclusive to US Weekly in exchange for free publicity for the show and future in kind advertising.

[Georgiana]

I'm not sure what is more likely - that they were paid for the exclusive or UP gave the exclusive to US Weekly in exchange for free publicity for the show and future in kind advertising.

I'm thinking it is the latter. I'm sure the network is desperate to drum up some interest in the show, especially as it is on an "off" brand Network.

[Guest]

I just wanted to point out that Erin never announced her pregnancy - only her miscarriage. She knew that there were likely problems from very early on, which is likely why she didn't announce. I completely expect her to announce any pregnancy in it's first trimester - as soon as it's confirmed by more than a drug store test. Whitney did, and I'm convinced that the only reason Alyssa waited at all is because her family didn't want her to announce before she turned 20. The Bates are attention whores and I do not think they would sit on a Cherin pregnancy - especially considering those two are easily the most famous Bates couple.

[rosalitta]

I'm still holding out hope for Alyssa to move at least a little more towards the mainstream than her parents. I feel like even if she was a little more moderate in her views and hopes for her family, after being told their whole lives that birth control of any sort is going against God/murdering babies it would take some time to reverse such strong doctrine.

[Selah]

I'm still holding out hope for Alyssa to move at least a little more towards the mainstream than her parents. I feel like even if she was a little more moderate in her views and hopes for her family, after being told their whole lives that birth control of any sort is going against God/murdering babies it would take some time to reverse such strong doctrine.

Ditto. Just because she's pregnant with her first child doesn't mean it won't hit them a bit later. She's young and been promised a very idealistic life as a wife/over-active uterus, but she might find having a child a heck of a lot harder than she anticipated,and decide to slow down. At least some of the fundie kids will likely discover for themselves that having eleventy kids isn't the only option open to them, and may not be what they can cope with whether that be merely financially or just personal choice. But this doesn't happen right away, especially as sex is the big obsession in fundieland. It would take an awful lot of thought and courage to go the ebil family planning route... :roll:

[CorruptionInc.]

http:// www .usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/bringing-up-bates-stars-alyssa-and-john-webster-expecting-first-child-20141811

Is it just me or do you cringe a little too when a fundie is pregnant?

[Georgiana]

Ditto. Just because she's pregnant with her first child doesn't mean it won't hit them a bit later. She's young and been promised a very idealistic life as a wife/over-active uterus, but she might find having a child a heck of a lot harder than she anticipated,and decide to slow down. At least some of the fundie kids will likely discover for themselves that having eleventy kids isn't the only option open to them, and may not be what they can cope with whether that be merely financially or just personal choice. But this doesn't happen right away, especially as sex is the big obsession in fundieland. It would take an awful lot of thought and courage to go the ebil family planning route... :roll:

She's said she does want fewer children than her parents (around 5), and I can see a lot of these women, who have watched their mothers undergo risky pregnancies later in life, not wanting a late in life pregnancy.

If she does want 5 kids, and if she wants to try and space them out 2-3 years, AND if she doesn't want to plan on being pregnant past her mid-30's, she doesn't have too much time to wait to get pregnant with the first. It may not be COMPLETELY crazy.

But honestly, I think a lot of the reason these women rush to get pregnant right away is boredom. They don't work or if they do it's at something very part-time like Sonic, they're so used to running a (larger) household that chores probably don't take them long, they aren't used to being alone or having real hobbies (and wouldn't be encouraged to add them after marriage), so they probably are very bored when they take up "married life". Erin has less of this with her piano ministry (which presumably is a passion), but I don't think Alyssa/Jill/Whitney were really doing anything they LOVED with their free time after marriage.

I think it will be interesting to see if they rush to get pregnant with the second or if they space them out once they have a baby to dote on.

[singsingsing]

But honestly, I think a lot of the reason these women rush to get pregnant right away is boredom.

They get pregnant right away because they're having sex without birth control. They don't really have a choice in the matter - or rather, once they chose to marry fundie men and continue on in the lifestyle their parents raised them, that's it. Doesn't matter if they're bored or scared, if they want 2 kids or 20. Unless they choose later on to leave fundamentalism, they're going to get what they're going to get.

[LadyCrow1313]

Sorry if this may be a repeat, but I truly hope that Erin isn't depressed that she hasn't had a baby yet. I'm a big fan of karma; if it's meant to happen, it'll happen when it's the right time.

I hope that all of the kids that are married & having a baby almost immediately are ready. But when you consider that a good number come from large families & help take/raise younger siblings, I'm also sure that they know what to do.

[Feberin]

They get pregnant right away because they're having sex without birth control. They don't really have a choice in the matter - or rather, once they chose to marry fundie men and continue on in the lifestyle their parents raised them, that's it. Doesn't matter if they're bored or scared, if they want 2 kids or 20. Unless they choose later on to leave fundamentalism, they're going to get what they're going to get.

If Alyssa is saying she wants five children then she should be planning on using birth control. I think in her case boredom may be the main reason to get pregnant right now. It'll be interesting to see if she actually only has five kids.

[Georgiana]

If Alyssa is saying she wants five children then she should be planning on using birth control. I think in her case boredom may be the main reason to get pregnant right now. It'll be interesting to see if she actually only has five kids.

In my personal experience with conservative Christians/Catholics, putting a number on the amount of children you plan on having is a subtle way of indicating that you plan on using some method to family plan, whether it's actual contraceptives or NFP.

In any case, by saying she does want to limit the amount of children she has, she is saying that she is NOT Quiverfull, so NFP is not off the table.

[singsingsing]

I remember her saying she thought she could handle about ten at the most. She has never said that she planned on using birth control, NFP, or anything else to prevent pregnancy. She has never given any indication that she plans to move away from the lifestyle. She even said she wouldn't get a job because she was sure she would get pregnant and have to quit. She got pregnant within a couple months of getting married. I honestly hope for her sake that she will try to limit the number of kids she has, but I've seen nothing yet that indicates she's going to. I get wishful thinking, but I seriously don't understand why people are so convinced that she's different.

[Toothfairy]

They get pregnant right away because they're having sex without birth control. They don't really have a choice in the matter - or rather, once they chose to marry fundie men and continue on in the lifestyle their parents raised them, that's it. Doesn't matter if they're bored or scared, if they want 2 kids or 20. Unless they choose later on to leave fundamentalism, they're going to get what they're going to get.

No its gods will. It's in his hands

[singsingsing]

No its gods will. It's in his hands

Which is basically exactly what I just said.

[meep]

I just feel very sad for her. That's all I feel when I hear this news. Sadness. She has no life. Her choice of course.

[HuggleMonster]

She's young, she's married. I think it's a natural progression to have a baby. Whether she sticks with a handful, or not is another thing altogether.

As for Erin, I feel a pang. But I'm not overly sad for her. In her world, God controls everything. She would most likely see it as God waiting for the right timing.

I don't peg any of the older ones going lite or mainstream. Possibly after Jackson. Only because I don't see the show going that long and JB keeping up the full on Gothard regime.

[singsingsing]

It's a bit outrageous to say that a young woman who lives in a nice house in Florida, with a husband she's clearly crazy about, seems to have an active social life, and who is now expecting a baby she obviously wants 'has no life'. She may not have the life YOU want, but if she's happy that's all that matters - and she seems happy.

[church_of_dog]

It's a bit outrageous to say that a young woman who lives in a nice house in Florida, with a husband she's clearly crazy about, seems to have an active social life, and who is now expecting a baby she obviously wants 'has no life'. She may not have the life YOU want, but if she's happy that's all that matters - and she seems happy.

Isn't this kind of the crux of the whole thing? I mean, all these guys claim to be happy in their lifestyle. After someone escapes they can reveal that perhaps they weren't truly happy, but at the time they will always claim to be, and who are we to say otherwise? We may have our suspicions of course. But this is the gist of the whole question about whether their lives are truly snarkworthy or whether they are simply making different choices than the rest of us, but entirely voluntarily. Even with regard to the kids, we are left to speculate about whether they truly choose and prefer their life or whether it's a ruse, or something in between -- Stockholm Syndrome and all that.

I don't have a point to make here, just recognizing that your comment is a pretty good nutshell summary of the whole situation.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

It's a bit outrageous to say that a young woman who lives in a nice house in Florida, with a husband she's clearly crazy about, seems to have an active social life, and who is now expecting a baby she obviously wants 'has no life'. She may not have the life YOU want, but if she's happy that's all that matters - and she seems happy.

If she is happy that is all that matters? What bullshit. I want these girls to be unhappy with the lifestyles forced on them. I want them to be bored, to be sad, to be angry because that is the only way things will change. If Alyssa is unhappy then maybe she will think twice about raising her own daughters to think that women are second class citizens who do not deserve anything but life as a broodmare and menial servant.

[singsingsing]

If she is happy that is all that matters? What bullshit. I want these girls to be unhappy with the lifestyles forced on them. I want them to be bored, to be sad, to be angry because that is the only way things will change. If Alyssa is unhappy then maybe she will think twice about raising her own daughters to think that women are second class citizens who do not deserve anything but life as a broodmare and menial servant.

If she was living her life as a second class citizen, broodmare and menial servant, do you think she would be happy?

[Handmaiden of Dog]

You said yourself that she seems happy-- maybe she is happy. She has been brainwashed from infancy to think that because she has a vagina she is less important then those with penises and maybe she came to believe this wholeheartedly, that her main role in life is to be submissive to obey her father and now her husband.

[Georgiana]

Many people who live the lives they chose and want still find themselves to be bored from time to time. I know many women who thought they would not work after marriage and did simply because they found it to be different than they thought it would be. I know many women who thought they wouldn't work after baby and did because being a SAHM wasn't what they expected, and I know people who intended to work after kids and ended up choosing to be SAHM instead.

Things that you think you want don't always end up being what you thought they would. That's normal. But for most of us, if we end up not liking being a stay at home wife for whatever reason, we have options: school, work, etc.

These women have one: baby.

[singsingsing]

I was responding to the comment "She has no life." Whether you believe that a conservative Christian woman in a patriarchal system can be truly happy or not is one thing, but suggesting that a 20-year-old woman in Alyssa's circumstance 'has no life' is a bit much. Or so it seemed to me.

She is very young. She has moved away from her family. Her husband's family, despite having ATI connections, seem like they may have slightly more liberal influences. She is still a fundie, but she may not always be. And that doesn't mean she's doomed to misery in the mean time.

[meep]

I say that because I don't buy what they are selling. I think behind-the-scenes things are very different than the image that put through in their blog and shows and instagrams.

[Mama Mia]

You said yourself that she seems happy-- maybe she is happy. She has been brainwashed from infancy to think that because she has a vagina she is less important then those with penises and maybe she came to believe this wholeheartedly, that her main role in life is to be submissive to obey her father and now her husband.

I don't see why she would have to be brainwashed since infancy to feel less important, and be under a patriarchal system and all of that to be happy right now. With what is going on in her life, right this minute. To her as an individual human being. She's young, she's healthy. She's with a man she seems happy with. She even has the added bonus of financial security. She may very well be happy to be having a baby right now. She could of been raised in a completely 180 degree opposite philosophy and be happy to be in this particular life, at this particular moment.

I was in a similar place at her age, except a couple years younger, and minus the financial security. I could not have been raised more differently. I was still thrilled and happy with my life, especially being a mom.

I don't quite get how it's somehow better to be partying in bikinis on the beach at 20. I get that it's that she's raised to believe she has no choice -- but we're all brainwashed by our culture to some extent. Whether it's the expectation that you should be having babies at 20, or if it's a hundred times more acceptable in your circle to be raging at spring break.