Controversy has swirled since the birth of octuplets to Nadya Suleman, a California woman who is unmarried and lives with her parents. Public outrage has grown since it was revealed that Suleman has 6 other children at home, some of whom have medical issues. The question many have been asking is why someone who already had six children, and very little means of support, would want to have more children.

The Duggars, who are the subject of a TLC reality show, have 18 children (all theirs naturally) and have been the target of both admiration and resentment. They have stated that they do not practice birth control, and the number of children they have is a direct result of this belief. This is perhaps a different situation than that of the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt family, which consists of three natural and 3 adopted children. The “Brangelina” family has also been the target of negative commentary, especially given the active lifestyle of the family, which is often shuffled from country to country to wherever the next movie is being filmed. Mia Farrow is another celebrity who adopted several children from foreign countries and also had several children of her own (with husbands Woody Allen and Andre Previn), for a grand total of fifteen children.

Why does the public often become incensed over the idea of very large families? There is the widespread belief that having a large family means that the children will suffer from lack of attention, especially in families where the children are very close together in age, such as the Jolie-Pitt family. Another frequent observation is that the children of large families will not be cared for properly, and that parents of large families will be unable to provide for them financially. This is certainly the case for Suleman, who now has 14 children and is accepting donations to provide for their care. For celebrities, the money required to raise such a large family is not an important factor, but the Jolie-Pitt’s have been criticised for working as much as they do and depending on nannies to raise the children.

The bottom line is that there is no formal mental illness

recognized by any psychiatric organization regarding baby addiction. It comes down to an issue of motivation. Suleman has admitted to wanting a large family to fill a void inside her created by an unhappy childhood. Having 14 children is not likely to solve any problems that may be lingering from an unhappy childhood; in fact, the strain of caring for 14 children with limited resources may make things worse. Money, however, should also not be the only deciding factor in family planning. Having the emotional resources to handle the pressures of a large family should be the most important consideration.

Related Links:

Video: Infertility Solutions from illumistream

Family Size in America: Are large families back? from BabyCenter.com

The Duggar Family from Discovery Health