Matriarch Kelly Bates announced she’s expecting AGAIN on August 24, during a TV special about her larger-than-life family!
And then there were 19! The Bates family have announced they’re expanding their already impressive brood. Kelly Bates is pregnant again! Is she crazy?The next Bates baby is due on Valentine’s Day 2011, and Kelly and husband Gil from Lake City, Tennessee are overjoyed with the news!
The little boy or girl will have a whole football squad of older siblings — the Bates brood boasts Zach, 22, Michaella, 21, Erin, 20, Lawson, 19, Nathan, 18, Alyssa, 16, Tori, 15, Trace, 14, Carlin, 13, Josie, 12, Katie, 10, Jackson, 9, Warden, 8, Isaiah, 6, Addallee, 5, Ellie, 4, Callie, 2, and Judson, who is just 11-months-old.
While some parents struggle with just a couple of kids, Kelly, 44, has spent almost half her life pregnant — and she’s happiest when she’s carrying a child.
“It feels more normal to me to be pregnant than not be pregnant,” she told ABC’s Nightline. “I’m happy holding a baby.”
The couple have never undergone fertility treatment — they insist they did it all the natural way, although Kelly has been taking hormones after suffering three miscarriages while trying out for baby number 19.
The reason they’ve had SO MANY babies? They’re evangelical Christians and don’t believe in birth control!
Tree surgeon Gil, 45, insists, “We both came to the conclusion that we just want to trust God with how many children we have. We never really thought we’d have 18. We thought we’d have maybe one or two – maybe three.”
The new addition will leave them level with the Duggars as America’s biggest families – but the Bates insists there’s no rivalry. In fact the two clans are close and even vacation together… all 37 of them!
Congratulations Kelly & Gil! What do you think of their bumper brood HollyMoms? Admirable… or irresponsible?
– Ian Garland
Read More About The Duggars Here:
md2205
Posted at 9:51 PM on November 9, 2011
The first commandment G-d gave was to be fruitful and multiply and that is to be taken seriously. It is not that people don’t believe in birth control and that is why they can’t use it. They take the first commandment seriously, that G-d really meant it. Every child is a blessing is how they believe. It is the source of good, from G-d. They don’t want to use birth control because a healthy family can bear having more children. I don’t think G-d meant for troubled families to have more children than they can handle emotionally. However, functional families such as the Bates can tolerate it and manage quite well. In general, as long as the older children are allowed to have their own time and fun as well, taking care of the younger children is not going to harm them. The kids will grow up with an attitude that having children is fun, and taking care of them is fun, and taking care of others is what they want to do. Having many children shows them they are not the only ones in the world and they have to tolerate the presence and antics of the younger ones. In general, children from large families grow up tolerating others’ foibles better than children from smaller families. Children from larger families stick together better than children from smaller families.