i had a babysitter when i was about 10 who was one of 16. 3 or 4 more had died in infancy. her mum died when she was 10 years old. the stories she told were of incredible poverty, ignorance and loneliness- she never had any toys and her dad was working 20 hours a day just to keep them fed. she basically brought herself up and was a miserable affection starved woman.
i also know two families where they have 8 and 7 children respectively and despite the differnt era and social class the children are still quite "tough" in a sometimes scary way- used from a very early age to fend for themselves.
now i am sure that these duggars are well off so the material side of things will not be as grim; and they look vaguely educated too. but please don't tell me that bringing 18 children in the world is a responsible thing to do. there is simply no way you can give a child enough attention and focus when you have so many. that's not what i would want for my children anyway.
i am sure they look great on a documentary (whcih is scripted, edited, etc) but the reality cannot be that great. and sorry LauraT, the fact that they have no debt is in no way an indication of their parenting skills.