Maxwell Baby Update

[ophelia]

I just read the blog entries concerning Susannah Joy. What devastating story. Really brought tears to my eyes and it was the first time I ever felt that the Maxwells could be human.. So so sad!

[Guest Anonymous]

I just read the blog entries concerning Susannah Joy. What devastating story. Really brought tears to my eyes and it was the first time I ever felt that the Maxwells could be human.. So so sad!

Nathan wrote those entries. He also wrote in a very emotional way after the births of his living children. As the oldest child, he was the most exposed to normality as a child, and the quickest to leave the family when he married Melanie 10 or more years ago.

I think the contrast between Nathan and Christopher is very striking and very worrying. I hope for her sake that Anna is able to have children (though I am torn and also hate to think of more children being brought up as Maxwells). She is a long way from home and I don't see her receiving much love or affection or tenderness from her husband.

[fundiefan]

The fewer Maxwells there are in the world, the better. If no babies come, I wouldn't blink.

[Rainbowcolor]

I don't think there will be any problem at all with children arriving in the C and NRA's home - in due time.

[skankbiscuit]

Even if they are to the point where they are having intercourse, Anna may be too nervous or stressed out about the act of sex/getting pregnant that it is preventing her from conceiving.

I truly hope that they are a happy, loving couple who are just finding their own way and taking their time and enjoying one another. They look happy enough in their pics. I think Christopher is finding his own way - can you imagine being under Steve's thumb for over 30 years?

Also, she may have had a miscarriage or 2 since the wedding, and of course they would not be sharing that with us.

[Justme]

Or, perhaps, they are making a very "grown up" decision to delay children for a while. They barely knew each other before marriage. Maybe they want a year or two to get to know each other as a couple. Anna was only 24 at marriage, she could easily wait a year or two. Remember too, Anna is from a small family. Having a ton of kids might scare her a bit. So maybe, just maybe, they are using some sort of birth control, perhaps as simple as the rhythem method....

[Patsy]

On both the Maxwells and others:

I agree with occasional comments here at fj that it is very sad that Sarah evidently has been so cut-off she can't find a marriage partner, and that she's getting to an age where it becomes even harder, in that world. I think it's sad because it's what she wants. It seems a bit weird to me, sometimes, though, that we kind of scrutinise young people in these circles who aren't married or don't have kids, considering that obsession is one of the main things we make fun of?

I know this isn't a hive vagina, and I understand some of the reasons for being curious about it (both for itself, and in that an individual or an individual couple's choices can tell you something about what life is really like in xy group) but it still sometimes comes across as a bit odd to me.

/2c.

[Guest Anonymous]

On both the Maxwells and others:

I agree with occasional comments here at fj that it is very sad that Sarah evidently has been so cut-off she can't find a marriage partner, and that she's getting to an age where it becomes even harder, in that world. I think it's sad because it's what she wants.

If we were all bitching about how Sarah is somehow less of a person for not having kids then I would agree that it would be an odd thread for FJ. But that's not hwo I am reading this thread.

Marriage and kids is what Sarah wants and it's what her parents have brought her up to believe is what God wants for women. Any yet, ironically, their actions have cut her off from achieving it.

It is the lifestyle in general and Steve in particular that I am scrutinising and snarking on, not Sarah, who I see as a victim in this case.

[luckylibrarian]

People criticize the Duggars because they expect their sons and daughters to get married and have 19 kids, regardless of what their children may want. People criticize the Maxwells because they expect their sons and daughters stay away from outsiders, regardless of what the Maxwell kids actually want. It's the parental control over every decision that is the problem. If Sarah Maxwell wants to get married and have 19 children, it's not her parents' place to stop her. And if Jana wants to get married and have 1 child, it's not her parents place to tell her she is wrong.

[skankbiscuit]

When a 30 year old woman refers to herself as one of the "children at home" it is scary. It is not uncommon for mainstream 30 year olds to be thinking about marriage - but they at least get to have freedom while searching for someone. I think marriage for Sarah would be a way she could live like a grown woman and finally away from Steve's clutches. And she wants to be married. So do many 30 year olds!

[Patsy]

Agree with all three of you. It's just an interesting overall pattern I see (don't really have anything against any particular comment on the matter), and I don't quite know what to make of it.

[Guest Anonymous]

What overall pattern are you seeing, exactly? Can you give examples to explain what you mean? You seem to be hand-slapping in a rather vague way and I'm not sure what exactly you're getting at?

[Patsy]

Oh, the interest in marriage and babies. Which is, in itself, in no way surprising - obviously the topic is going to come up pretty often. But when it comes to "Why hasn't X had another baby yet?", even though the tone is curious, not criticising, I guess the discussion seems similar enough to what some people in those groups would be thinking? I can't really pinpoint it, beyond that.

I guess I feel like wondering about why Faithful Lee White hasn't had another kid yet could feel like scrutiny to the Faithful in question, particularly if that's what they're used to (under the surface 'Bless you!') from their fundie friends and relatives. Again, I think there is a little more to it than that, in my mind, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

[kpmom]

I have to agree with the others that mentioning Sarah's non-married state, and NR-Anna's non-pregnancy (so far) state here on FJ is far different than the way their fellow fundies might mention it.

I remember when I began following the Maxwells years ago, even before they had a blog, I wondered why Nathan and Melanie didn't have 1000 kids already. Of course it turned out there were fertility issues.

But before I knew that I wondered about it because they made it clear from Teri's Engagement and Marriage report (again this was pre-blog) that Nathan and Melanie were open to as many arrows as possible.

I think for many of us it's more a curiosity thing as to why no marriage yet for Sarah, no babies yet for NR-Anna, since they make it very clear this is their goal for their female children.

And I have to say a lot of people here seem to be genuinely concerned for Sarah that she is being prevented from having a life of her own (in her case marriage and kids, as that is her only option) by her parent's choices. I don't believe most of us are snarking on this.

[Sydney Fox]

I have to agree with the others that mentioning Sarah's non-married state, and NR-Anna's non-pregnancy (so far) state here on FJ is far different than the way their fellow fundies might mention it.

I remember when I began following the Maxwells years ago, even before they had a blog, I wondered why Nathan and Melanie didn't have 1000 kids already. Of course it turned out there were fertility issues.

But before I knew that I wondered about it because they made it clear from Teri's Engagement and Marriage report (again this was pre-blog) that Nathan and Melanie were open to as many arrows as possible.

I think for many of us it's more a curiosity thing as to why no marriage yet for Sarah, no babies yet for NR-Anna, since they make it very clear this is their goal for their female children.

And I have to say a lot of people here seem to be genuinely concerned for Sarah that she is being prevented from having a life of her own (in her case marriage and kids, as that is her only option) by her parent's choices. I don't believe most of us are snarking on this.

I agree with kpmom. I'm definitely not snarking on this. I myself have had fertility issues (there's 8 years between kid #1 and kid #2). I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Steve and Teri, however, went out of their way to have more children (vascectomy reversal) because Steve believed the Bible said that preventing children was wrong. They have passed this belief on to their kids. These people have put themselves and their beliefs out as something to be admired, so I have no problem posing questions about their lifestyle. I think it is interesting to see what happens when the fundie ideal of a large quiver does not happen, especially when fundie women are told they have no other worth than being a mother.

[sputnik]

Announcement was made tonight. Due mid May.

[alikat]

:o How do you know?

[tehgoobster]

OMG! Maybe that's why Sarah said that the conference they attended was "amazing" (maybe they found out and made the announcement there). Congrats to Chris and NRA, though!

[alikat]

So if the baby is due mid-May, that means conception happened round about 24th August. So NR- Anna WAS pregnant whilst hiking!

[Lillybee]

I couldn't find anything on the Maxwell Family blog about this.

[Letgo]

I think the OP meant that the pregnancy was announced at the conference tonight, not on the blog. Can't wait to see if it's true! I hope so for Anna's sake.

[Guest Anonymous]

That's lovely news.

It is fascinating to me to think how many people must be lurking on these boards, who have connections with the Maxwells and are waiting to drop some news like this. I am assuming the OP is a former lurker, though they could of course be an existing poster who doesn't want to risk being sprung by the family for snarking on them on something that hasn't gone totally public yet.

ETA: Haha, given the totally unemotional, abrupt tone of the OP, it could of course be Stevie himself spreading the good news.... :lol:

I hope Sarah is OK with the news. If she was jealous of another younger woman marrying into the family, then the baby news must be very bittersweet to her.

[gilora]

Congratulations!

[formergothardite]

Oh yeah. Another baby being born into a lifestyle of having no fun and serving Papa Maxwell because you know he still has control over Christopher despite him being married.

[Rainbowcolor]

Since sputnik means "companion" or "fellow traveler of the earth" in Russian, maybe the poster is Teri.