My paternal grandmother was the 11th of 12. My maternal grandmother was the oldest of 6 or 7. Again, farm families.

Given limited medical resources, I'm wondering why a doctor would agree to provide fertility treatments to someone who already has six kids. I mean, that couple is the last people who need treatment. It's like giving growth hormones to someone who's already 6'8".

That said, I need a better reason to say "No, you can't" than "I think it's a craxy for you to do that."

So there's no way someone can build a family that's irresponsible? No way at all? That seems unlikely.

There are lots of ways that are irresponsible. But since different people are going to make that call differently it needs to stay in the realm of "private".

In these circumstances (or rather these circumstances as reported; as Kat points out, we may not be getting the full story), yes.

Kat seems fairly certain she was not TRYING to have eight babies and that her guess was free-lance or foreign fertility treaments.

We know nothing else. Maybe the contractor gig was money enough to support a seventh child and the family was gung-ho? And its sort of none of our business.

Also on anyone continuing to have more kids by any means if they need government assistance to get by.

This, most of all. If it is not within your means to support your existing family, NO MORE KIDDIES FOR YOU.

I don't get to say "how people build their own families is their own business" unless I mean it all the time.

False dichotomy. There's no reason I can't support this woman's legal right to choose her family while also thinking on a personal level that she's not making good choices.

But once again, I'll say if you really want to parent as many kids as you can, if you have that kind of love to give, ADOPT. There are too many children out there *right now* who could use a family.

Adoption isn't right for everybody. It's just not. Again, people need to make their own calls on these things.

That said, I need a better reason to say "No, you can't" than "I think it's a craxy for you to do that."

I guess this is what I'm trying to say. And, imho, the tone around here seems a little more of the former than of the latter (altough I fully admit this would not be the first time I've misjudged a tone).

There's no reason I can't support this woman's legal right to choose her family while also thinking on a personal level that she's not making good choices.

This is where I am.

And we can all have an opinion about what she's doing, whether it's our business or not. When do we not?

And its sort of none of our business.

Heh. I'll let Cashmere's current tag speak for me on this one:

"...we're Buffistas. We have opinions on shows we've never watched, food we've never eaten, people we've never fucked. It's what we do."--Teppy

Kat seems fairly certain she was not TRYING to have eight babies and that her guess was free-lance or foreign fertility treaments.

It's one opinion of many, though. She could also be a flake who's not emotionally equipped to raise 14 kids. We just don't know.

IcompletelyON, Two Lumps is hilarious today! The cats discover the webcam.

And in wildly other news . . .

Restroom requiem: 'It was a good toilet' gunned down in line of 'doody'

[link]

A whackaloon with a concealed carry permit went to the bathroom in a burger joint, and as he was pulling up his pants, his pistol fell out of his holster, and it went off, shattering the toilet.

Life in Utah.

But the "john" was destroyed, and the national hamburger chain is feeling the loss. "By all accounts, it was a good toilet; reliable and well liked by customers and crew members alike," wrote Brad Haley, executive vice president of Carl's Jr. marketing, in a tongue-in-cheek note posted on the company's Facebook page.

I don't get to say "how people build their own families is their own business" unless I mean it all the time.

There is a huge huge difference between my judging someone's life choices, and the government taking away those choices. When someone's church speaks out against gay people adopting children, I think they're wrong-headed, and get on with my life. If the government says gay people can't adopt, that's a problem. Of course it's their business how they build their family (or, I would suggest, a decision made with the family, their doctor, their clergy [if any]), but I can still feel free to think it's a bad choice.