Parents and multiple children

Someone having 8 kids is not something I'd feel supportive of, regardless of circumstances.

I guess I intended 'supportive' to mean whatever level you would support, even if that level was extremely low. I thought of putting 'supportive/unsupportive' but the sentences became hard to read.

All three of my siblings would be considered below the threshold for the relatively healthy child, since they all have multiple handicaps, but I don't consider them as less of people, and I must admit that this is a sensitive subject for me. I think there is definitely a maximum reasonable family size, because no matter what kind of money situation you have, or the amount of people you have helping you, once you reach a certain point, it's impossible to provide the one to one time you could have with less children. Quality not quantity of relationships is more important to me.

I am steadfast against abortion, but I do support the rights of BOTH parents to make that choice themselves. My wife and I had a baby die in child birth, if you have never experienced that there is no way that you can identify with my feelings on this. There is a bond between me and any child I may help conceive from the moment of conception. I couldn't end that for anything.

natural multiple birth....

-i, myself, would consult with my wife's ob/gyn to decide if my wife's life and the babies' lives would be threatened...how dangerous...odds...etc...if it dramatically increased the odds of my wife not surviving...i would lean towards aborting...

drug enhanced multiple births.....

-this i don't understand...i think it's just an attempt to get "fifteen minutes of fame"...i don't agree with this...if they are going to regulate these drugs as fertility drugs...they should also regulate dosage and monitor the progress of the fertilized eggs...moreover, control the number of fertilized eggs to avoid octuplets...or septuplets...

I think the maximum reasonable family size depends on the family.

Oh, and since some comments here have implied the opposite, I know a family of 8 children which I would consider "reasonable" (leaving aside the question of overpopulation). The kids were spread out over 16 or 20 years, the mother wasn't interested in having a career other than being a mother, there was plenty of support from their community and extended family, and each kid got plenty of attention.

my feelings concerning multiple births are influenced more by the possibility of a healthy life then by the numbers themselves. i do feel there is a reasonable family size but that must be determined by each family independently of the government. i do think there should be more education in family planning!

jettles...that's exactly where i was coming from...the safety of lives would be my main concern

jen..good point...:)

My issue isn't with multiple births, it is more with the fertility drugs that cause a high number of these multiple births. I can't say that I support 8 separate births vs an octuplets birth...personally I'd think that both families were insane for wanting that number of children.

I find the options too cumbersome, too many comparisons. does "drug-influenced" mean that they were the results of fertility drugs, or that the mother took drugs when pregnant?

This question is extremely poorly worded. have 8 octuplets would imply 64 children (to my mind). octuplet being like the word for triplet, which means three (of whatever), so three triplets would be nine..
That said, the only thing I would feel for a parent of octuplets is pity or maybe some compassion. they are going to go insane trying to care for 8 children of the same age. 8 single births means that you have children of varying ages, and even if they are 10 months apart (or even 9 months apart) you still have the older ones that are self sufficient (to a degree) or can help look after the wee ones.
I do think there is a limit to family size for a two parent family.. if you have extended family, then you have a better ability to have children looked after and nurtured properly.

Supportive in what sense? Do I approve of it/condone it, do I empathize with the family in question, would I be willing to pay for it...? A comment on ordinary large families - I was very annoyed at John Sununu when he whined about not being able to send his eight children to college on his (much larger than mine) salary (as a U.S. Senator, if I remember rightly). And he's supposed to be bright...