Zach & Whitney 8: #ad, #sponsored & Whit Finds the Time!

[Kiki03910]

Another Whitney and Zach question -- I just watched their vow renewal and am wondering what the backstory is with her parents not being invited to their original wedding. She wasn't specific.

[indianabones]

3 hours ago, Kiki03910 said:

Another Whitney and Zach question -- I just watched their vow renewal and am wondering what the backstory is with her parents not being invited to their original wedding. She wasn't specific.

Whitney was removed from their home as a teenager, according to some pretty old forum posts written by people from her hometown. The implication was that they were abusing her. Afterwards, she lived with the family of her best friend (who had passed away after getting into a car accident as a teenager) until she married Zach. Her adoptive parents gave her away at the wedding and her biological parents did not attend.

Whitney has never explained why she stopped spending time with her adoptive parents and reconnected with her bio ones. It's been speculated that Kelly Jo guilted her into it, but there's no evidence that that's actually what happened.

[Kiki03910]

27 minutes ago, indianabones said:

Whitney was removed from their home as a teenager, according to some pretty old forum posts written by people from her hometown. The implication was that they were abusing her. Afterwards, she lived with the family of her best friend (who had passed away after getting into a car accident as a teenager) until she married Zach. Her adoptive parents gave her away at the wedding and her biological parents did not attend.

Whitney has never explained why she stopped spending time with her adoptive parents and reconnected with her bio ones. It's been speculated that Kelly Jo guilted her into it, but there's no evidence that that's actually what happened.

Thanks much. It sounds like a sad situation all around.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Whitney is pregnant with #5 due in august. 

[CanadianMamam]

I am guessing Kourtnei or Kelsey for a girl.  No clue for a boy. 

[Dbm]

I don't know why I expected them to stop after the last boy

[Bluebirdbluebell]

The boutique must be okay if they think they can afford another baby. The Bates all seem to have plenty of money. I know some of the girls married well, but in general the Bates finances are a mystery. 

2 hours ago, Dbm said:

I don't know why I expected them to stop after the last boy

I agree. Hopefully they won't have too many more kids. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

My guess was that they would top out at 6. Especially if they end up with 3 boys and 3 girls. 

[WannabeHistorian]

I guess my theory of them having "pairs" has basically been confirmed, though they are a little early. I was expecting a March/April announcement with a fall due date.  

[CanadianMamam]

17 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

My guess was that they would top out at 6. Especially if they end up with 3 boys and 3 girls. 

Yeah, I think 6 is reasonable for them. I only see a few of the Bates siblings go higher than that. 

Zach & Whit- 6

Erin- she would have had a houseful, but thankfully that is unlikely. They might manage one more. 

Lawson & Tiff- I don't see them having more than 3.

Nathan & Esther- they are a wildcard. I could see them going big. At least six, probably not more than 10.

Alyssa- is probably done now than she has the golden penis but maybe one more.

Tori- as many as she can and at her current rate, that will be a lot. Over 10. 

Trace & Lydia- I think 5 or 6. 

Carlin- obviously a lot of factors here, but if she gets positive health answers I think they will have 4 or 5. She honestly seems to really like Evan's "smaller" family. 

Josie- I could see her "only" having 4. 

Katie- has said they only want 3 or 4. It will probably be 3 unless it is 3 girls. 

Although even if most of the kids choose more typical family sizes, there would still be 60 or so grandkids without even counting any of the younger kids. 

Edited February 11, 2023 by CanadianMamam

[HideousGreenShirt]

Yessssss my first correct fundie prediction of 2023! Thank you ZachNey, I'm feeling competitive this year. 

[CaptainFunderpants]

Is it just me or do first cousins Kaci and Brooklyn (Paine) look a lot alike? I was going back and forth on their pictures and trying to figure out if it's genuine resemblance, or if they're just two months apart with similar hair cuts.

[CanadianMamam]

I don't think they particularly look alike. I used to think Brooklyn was all Chad until I saw some old Bates family pics. 

Spoiler

 

[EyesOpen]

Sigh. Yay for them I guess. I feel like these perfect shiny fundies (tm) are showing a false narrative that it’s possible to have 5 kids and be rich. They are c rate celebrities, he’s a… what sheriff? Idk how they are affording all this. I have three kids. I am working 40-60 hours a week. I’m stressed. Im worried about job loss, the price of milk, whether to pause college savings cause the cost of things is so high… had to buy a couple hundred dollars in school clothes and legitimately went to good will trying to mitigate some cost… … and my husband and I both have good jobs for now… and these ones are blithely adding more. Glad they can afford it and not feel my stress I guess. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by EyesOpen

[indianabones]

2 minutes ago, EyesOpen said:

Sigh. Yay for them I guess. I feel like these perfect shiny white fundies (tm) are showing a false narrative that it’s possible to have 5 kids and be rich. They are c rate celebrities, he’s a… what sheriff? Idk how they are affording all this. 

They both work for the boutique full time. Zach quit the police department a few years back. I suppose it's lucrative enough for them to be comfortable in the area where they live. They could have made a good profit off of the equity from their last home. Also, based on their social media they definitely don't shell out as much money as Carlin/Josie/Lawson.

They rarely travel and when they do, they drive with their kids (with the exception of Lawson's wedding.) The most expensive furniture and appliances at their house were sponsored (stove and couch). They lived with Kelly Jo and Gil for months while they were remodeling their current home by themselves, with the assistance of Zack's brothers. They have free childcare since they can bring their kids to work or have Zack's youngest sisters babysit. It looks like their biggest indulgences are Whitney's clothes, hair, and makeup. Since she's an influencer they might even be writing those off as a business expense.

But then again, we have no idea how their finances are off-screen.

[JermajestyDuggar]

The only reason why that boutique is doing well is because the Bateses had a reality show. If there was never a Bates show on TLC or UP, Zach and Whitney would be working class. Just like millions of other families. 

[BeccaGrim]

So...Kourtney...Kara....something like that? Baby number 5 on the way. 

[CanadianMamam]

40 minutes ago, EyesOpen said:

Sigh. Yay for them I guess. I feel like these perfect shiny fundies (tm) are showing a false narrative that it’s possible to have 5 kids and be rich. They are c rate celebrities, he’s a… what sheriff? Idk how they are affording all this. I have three kids. I am working 40-60 hours a week. I’m stressed. Im worried about job loss, the price of milk, whether to pause college savings cause the cost of things is so high… had to buy a couple hundred dollars in school clothes and legitimately went to good will trying to mitigate some cost… … and my husband and I both have good jobs for now… and these ones are blithely adding more. Glad they can afford it and not feel my stress I guess. 

Location has a lot to do with it. From what I understand, they live in an area with a very low cost of living. 

I am a SAHM, my husband works and we have a decent life but we also live in a much lower cost area than a lot of our family and friends. 

But yeah, they also got lucky. They were on TV,so they had a build in platform for their Shillong and that made the boutique a success and allows them to have careers as influencers. 

[gobucks]

East TN is very low of living. It is the area of the country that inspired the Appalachian dirt floor poor stereotype. Dolly Parton frequently has discussed this area of the country where she grew up. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I heard that he had good health insurance with the police department and he quit that job to work for the boutique. I have a feeling there will eventually be money problems.

 5 kids is a lot and 6 is a lot. If they want to stop having kids, there's also the question of being able to keep from having more. Whitney will be 30 and they have lot more years to get through. 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Bluebirdbluebell

[CaptainFunderpants]

15 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

I heard that he had good health insurance with the police department and he quit that job to work for the boutique. I have a feeling there will eventually be money problems.

 5 kids is a lot and 6 is a lot. If they want to stop having kids, there's also the question of being able to keep from having more. Whitney will be 30 and they have lot more years to get through. 

I feel like mysterious "health issues," will become more of a thing, giving them a built in excuse to go on birth control, or... Just a straight-up vasectomy that isn't mentioned.

Zach is the oldest Bates boy. He vividly remembers the lean years. Although apparently not vividly enough, considering I agree that he should have stuck it out with the police department purely for the healthcare and retirement benefits.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I’ve always suspected that most quiverful fundies were not 100% quiverful from the time they got married until menopause. Maybe if someone gave them all anonymous questionnaires we would get the real story. But I think there are times in their lives where they actively avoided sex because they knew they couldn’t handle another blessing at that time. 

[ifosterkittens]

4 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I’ve always suspected that most quiverful fundies were not 100% quiverful from the time they got married until menopause. Maybe if someone gave them all anonymous questionnaires we would get the real story. But I think there are times in their lives where they actively avoided sex because they knew they couldn’t handle another blessing at that time. 

I would love to see those questionnaires! Even Jill Rodrigues admitted to a little NFP after having nine kids. I believe it was in an old blog post, and I got the impression it was David's decision. It just isn't sustainable to have ~twenty years of fertility for these couples that tend to get married young. Reality probably starts kicking in after a couple of kids. 

[GracieLou Free Duggar]

21 hours ago, CanadianMamam said:

I don't think they particularly look alike. I used to think Brooklyn was all Chad until I saw some old Bates family pics. 

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Training him early--Zach has a silly belt holster--I know they didn't have cellphones at this time, but I feel like it's a placeholder!

[sableduck]

Location is everything.  We live in a pretty low cost of living area(updated 1500 square foot ranch home on 2 acres cost us $150,000 last year, for instance) and could pretty easily afford six or seven kids on our EMS salaries.  They live someplace where costs are probably similar.