I recently attended the funeral home for a friend who lost her dad. She was from a big Catholic family with 11 children. The place was packed as you can well imagine. All 11 children and their children were in attendance.

While speaking with her mom, I commented that they just don't make families like they used to. Do you know anyone who has this many children these days? I sure don't. Big families are a thing fo the past.

I went to a Catholic school and Mom and Dad had five children which I think is a big family. But I've got to tell you that there were many families in our parish that had six, seven, eight, nine and ten children. Can you imagine raising all those kids and sending them to Catholic school?

I marveled at my friend's family and their love of one another. I particularly marveled at her mom. What a saint. Don't you think?

I had a dear older friend who had 10 children.She was a good woman with a heart of gold
She had the landlord knock down the semi detached walls to give her space.
Had I needed a home she would have made room there.
Her family prospered each helping the other.
She was a Councillor (Local politics)as was her husband.So she did public works also.
Mountain ash

Daddy was raised with 9 siblings, and I have four sisters. It seems that each of us had two children and as generations go, the numbers are dwindling to ones, and twos, as far as having children. There are so many advantages and disadvantages to having large families. Personally, I think the advantages outweigh the bad. But ask me again after one of my sisters makes me mad. HA!

I truly love big families, at least five children, but alas it wasn't in the cards for me. I wish I had a couple of daughters too.

I appreciate your comments about this. It's something I hadn't considered much until the other evening. Honestly, that family is so blessed. It's fantastic.

One of the major advantages of coming from a large family is that there's always enough for a fun party! Also, in times of distress, someone is always in the wings to help.

I'm not so sure our generation of children will be around to hlep care for us. We have less children and they are more spread out. I think we'll have to depend on one another. You know, back to the communal living of the 60s.

I think now-a-days any family with 6 children is considered huge. Times have changed, I too remember families that I grew up with that had 8 - 10 children. My neighbor here has 7 and I don't know how she does it. The house we lived in in NY once held a family with 10 children and I honestly don't know how they could all fit! We felt cramped with only 2 kids.

I grew up with 5 sisters and 2 brothers. I have 2 girls and 1 stepson. Each have 1 child and don't plan on any more(always subject to change of course). That is going from 7 to 1 in a short period of time.

the largest i know is a women frend of po's that has 8 kids anddddd she home schooled them all!!!

po's from a familie of 5, i am from a 2 (mum had pre eclampsia sadlie).

Do you think its becouse of the mortalitie rate being so good now that people are assored that their kids are gonna make it to adulthood so dont have so manie?
or is it just plan old contriception lol?

Biggest I knew personally was an employee, who was in a family of 9 children. She is boomer generation age now.

I grew up with 4 sisters and 1 brother. My mother had 7 siblings. She barely knew the eldest since eldest (sister) was 20 years old than Mom.

Some first cousins, who are in families of 6-7 children each. No stepchildren in any of these families.

A first cousin my age has 4 children. None are stepchildren. Her sister has 4 children, again no stepchildren. It is rarer and rarer women my age (48) and younger have this number of children.

Generally speaking over the years, we have become closer as a family. I am closer to siblings compared to 25 years ago. Probably because as a family we've weathered some major events.

I have a strong tolerance for working with noise around me...probably because growing up in a large family...means noise.

Boggles my mind that our family of 8, shared just 1 bathroom.

i have started a relatively big family in sweden..5 children and 4 grandchildren..one grandchild and my daughter, her mom, do live in the states however. but somehow, having a big family is so enriching! I am an only child myself and lived in the states with my mom and dad and grandparents on my mom´s side. the rest of the big family resides in the czech rep. i have no contact with them now. SO, my big family here in sweden means so much! I´m never really alone and most of the time i am needed. i do think that should an emergency arrive, i would get help. or give it. which of course has happened and probaby will in the future, too. that´s life. and i am so grateful that i have my children around me with their families. i am divorced from their father after 32 yrs of marriage. not easy. i now live with my sambo, who many years younger than me..but we are a family too. perhaps a little one, but still a family, the way we see it.

i knew someone with 24 brothers and sisters due to divorces and new marriages and constilations. they usually all met every 5 years with all their respective families!!!

I'm the oldest of eleven kids. My mother had seven and my dad remarried and had four. I don't know my dad's kids and they're much younger than I am. My mother's youngest is 18 years younger than I so we don't have anything in common.

Now days the only time you hear of large families is if they have fertility drugs and then they have a litter.

Laurel

rember the old joke ....about big families having no T.V.....hence the big number of kids....i can never work out exactlie what the lack of tv to kids ment lol.

My childhood best friend was one of 10. They lived in a three bedroom apartment with ONE bathroom. Five kids in each room...several, obviously slept in the same bed.

Their closets were pipes with sheets hung over the front to cover the clothes. The mother was constantly yelling, but boy were those kids disciplined! Their apartment was the second floor above a bar. Two very long flights of stairs led up to their place.

The Mom and Dad smoked constantly. They did NOT have a clothes dryer...just a washer. She was at home as the kids were growing so she hung clothes out on the line.

We didn't think anything of it. There were four of us and we were all friends with her kids.

She had one son commit suicide in 1980...I really liked him!

Amazing family. But today, don't know of any large families. Actually, I do.....a family of 6 and they want nine!

This is an interesting thread. I was floored to read about Laurel; oldest of 11 children!
Haha you are funny;…fertility drugs make liters…oh man.

My husband is one of 7 siblings. They are all very different from one another. It's as if they aren't even related. They don't quarrel with one another,…they are just not interested in each other. I could never understand that.

I'm with you Chatty. I always wanted a large family. But my husband said you aren't doing the children any favour. You can never give them all the attention they want and need, and never mind the material things. He spoke from experience, but still I always felt I had so much more love to give. I would have liked to have had at least 4 children. Oh well, now we can lavish our attention on hopefully many grandchildren.

Well, my husband has two sister's and he is the middle child and they are the nicest girls I have ever met . Even thought they are out of town we all are close . Call each other and email . Now , my husband father 's family there were 14 kids and lots fo Aunts and Uncles and that was fun when we went back to W.VA to see them all at the family reunion , but now they are almost all died .

I don't have much of a family and what I do have I don't have anything to do with because they are toxic and I stay away from toxic people . I have lots of friends. I have a brother who is eight years older then me and we are not close and he is not married . He is married to his Vodka . LOl. It does not bother me though . I think sometimes you learn to convansate with lots of friends. Or at least I do .

Blessings,

I am the oldest of six. I like big families and don't believe there isn't enough love to go around. At least not in most cases. When that is true, it would have been even if the people had fewer children. I only had two children myself, but it was because it just happened that way. However, thinking by today's standards, I don't know how couples can have big families. With both parents working, two cars, the big house and all, it's difficult to afford and then there are more children shuffled off to babysitters/day care. And then, there's college. Today, having two children is probably a big family.

Large families... Well, they are not so common these days, but I know someone who is definitely on the road to having a large fam. This young couple has already 4 young ones to feed. Not sure that they will stop at 4 either.

My son once joked that he wants 12 kids! I just said: Well, you better study hard and get a good paying job to sustain them all! He has BIG plans, as you can imagine!