Our very first Broadsheet post was about the Duggar family, back when they had a mere 16 kids. Despite the average family size declining worldwide, a year ago, the Duggars added baby Jennifer, and yesterday, mama Michelle gave birth to Jordyn-Grace, bringing the total to 18 kids, all with names beginning with J: Joshua, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, Jeremiah, Jedidiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, and Johannah are the others, in that order. Meaning yes, they thought of "Jinger" long before "Jennifer."
There's not much new to say about the Duggars that hasn't been covered by umpteen articles, a TLC reality show, their family Web site, and that ubiquitous Successories parody. They're fundamentalist Christians, and they have a whole mess of kids. That's kind of the whole story. As much as I disagree with the sort of Christian principles the Duggars espouse -- for starters, that women ought to devote their lives to having as many babies as possible -- one of my core principles is that grown women's reproductive decisions are none of my business, so if Michelle's happy, I'm happy for her. Congratulations, Duggars! May you never run out of "J" names. And may at least some of your 18 kids grow up to be radical feminist atheists.
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