To ask for opinions on these age gaps?

[Jumell]

I’ve got no kids - but am interested in what you think - my best mate from college is expecting her 5th in March.

By the time new baby’s born - her existing kids will be the following ages :

15
9
5
3
Opinions on this family structure?

Ahhh, she's irresponsible. Bingo!

Come on now !! I don’t think that AT ALL

It's really obvious. You need to learn to be a bit more subtle if you want to be low key judgey.

Why on earth would she have so many children let alone another one if she has a low income? Are they funding their life themselves or relying on benefits to support an unnecessarily large family?

Personally I think she's insane spending 18 to 34 being pregnant or having young children. Feel a bit sorry for the oldest teen as they probably don't get much 1:1 time

Finally OP gets what she wants!

BINGO

Husband works full time - no benefits but at end of week they’ve nothing to spare

Odd post, I don't understand why it matters. Personally I wouldn't want 5 children as 3 is more than enough. And I wouldn't want to have a newborn when I had a 15 year old but that's me. I'd want my own space and time that doesn't revolve around a baby or toddler eventually.

She is and will always be one of my role models - she’s run marathons /works hard etc etc

I don't have kids either and I think it's a very weird thing to want to garner opinions on. I can't imagine being remotely interested.

Although I do think it's funny that one of my school friends who got pregnant at 16 was posting all those memes about "it's great to have kids young because when you're in your 30s with night feeds I'll be out on the town" and is now pregnant again in her late 30s.

Your friend is a role model in society.

Global fertility rates are plummeting and the effect on the elderly, working age people, children and all sections of society will be devastating.

Governments everywhere are trying to do all they can to increase the birth rate to avoid disaster, but it's not working.
Even subsaharan African countries that once had a birth rate of 5 per woman are going down to 4 and lower. It doesn't sound like much to start with but it is part of a global problem. The rate is below 0.7 children per woman in South Korea.

The only way we can solve this is by increasing the brith rate.

It's a massive toll on parents and especially women to have children and to have larger families and so people like your friend are doing a service to society.

The age gaps between her children are ideal in terms of her allowing her body to heal and re nourish between pregnancies and be able to give the maximum time and resources to each child.

We need more people like your friend to avert the coming disaster. You should be very proud of her and if you can at all manage it, emulate this reproductively for the good of society.

Fair play to her for managing 5 kids I guess. Wouldn't be for me. She certainly wouldn't be my role model at all 🤣

Christ! Lie back and think of England eh 😆

So you do think that they can't afford another kid. Another kid means more expense, and if they currently have no money to spare then they can't afford it, right?

If you like having a lot of kids, which I wouldn't but some people do, those are pretty good age gaps. Quite Sound of Music.

A lot of people have nothing to spare with no kids! So fair play to them for not claiming benefits and still managing to support a family of 7.

WRONG!

when the 5th kid is born they’ll cut the cloth accordingly - maybe buy slightly cheaper food etc … they may not have money to spare at the end of the week with the 5th kid also - but I’ve every faith that they WILL make it work !

That’s what I thought - plenty of variety!

Wow lol 😆 you are very invested/obsessed with your bestie role model. Maybe a little crush? Either way, I hope she finds your interest in her fertility endearing rather than psychotic 😅

Why don’t you just ask your friend how she feels about it rather than get people on the internet to make comments?

I would be pretty annoyed if my friend posted about my family set up and invited comments, you don’t sound like much of a friend to me.

I have a 3 year gap then a 2.5.
I think a 5 year gap is the best. The days when my 3 year old is at nursery and my 6 year old has been off school. It's been an absolute breeze with a 6 year old and 1 year old!

Having five kids would be my nightmare regardless of their age gaps to be honest

That's the exact age gap of me and my siblings!

I hated it, but I think I'd have hated being part of a big family regardless of the age gaps, a smaller age gap would have made certain things easier though.

Yeah but why