Uterus of Steel: Family Has 17th Child

My friend Sam recently wrote a thoughtful blog post on the happy news that his wife is pregnant with their fourth daughter. Unfortunately, he often encounters awkward conversations with people who offer him their sympathies for having an all-female clan.

Four children is “above average” for most U.S. families — what is it now, 2.5 kids? — but nowhere close to the Duggar family in Arkansas. They just had their 17th child.

While I may have been tempted to name them by their birth order — “Child 1, Child 2, Child 14… — they chose to give their children all names that start with J, which, of course, I support.

“Jennifer joins siblings Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2.”

My real first name is Joy-Ann. So I like that they have a girl named Joy-Anna. “Jinger,” not so much (is that pronounced like ginger, or jeenger?)

And, while my first reaction was to make a snarky remark about this family, I thought of Sam, and realized, who the hell am I to judge this family? And, well, my aunt recently sent me my Victory family tree, which is far more horizontal than vertical — both of my paternal grandparents were born into huge families.

In other words, my great-grandmothers had uteri of steel, too.