22 kids and counting...

[LookingAtMyBhunas]

AIBU to think they're not actually great parents?

I'm watching an older series and they've just been told by one of the siblings that some of the younger ones are carrying knives. Cue a very half hearted 'Oh nooo that's not ideal is it' and a weak chat with one of them.

This is just one example. I'm not going to comment on him being 17 and her 13 when she got pregnant with their first.... 😬

That’s awful what if there was a fire or other emergency

My husband is one of 8, a religious background. His mother was pregnant with her first child at 15 and she continued into her late 30’s. The oldest is now in her 70’s and the youngest is early 50’s. They
tell stories about their youth and it sounds awful. They didn’t always have beds to sleep in, they said they were always hungry, no privacy etc. They looked after each other and there was no time for one one times with their parents, or cuddles and bedtime stories and not enough investment in education- my husband left school aged 15 not being able to read. The upside is that now there are many of them, there’s a huge family, plenty of care for the elderly parents and they all turned out reasonably ok. Personally it’s not how I would want my family to look like, but I invest everything into my kids so it’s very different. I don’t think it’s fair on children to be with so many siblings, but I suppose it creates independence and self advocacy. I also don’t understand the finances of it - how can anyone afford to feed, clothe and educate that many children?

Shes trying to have a childhood herself.

There is an easy way of having a shag without creating kids - it's called contraception.

I know this
Seems he doesnt-they seem addicted to having kids
I honestly wonder if it's her that likes the baby bit and he loves the sex

I can only imagine what condition her pelvic floor is in after 22 labours.

That’s not how fostering works…

She had a childhood. They were both adopted as babies and grew up in a family environment, their adoptive parents have been on the TV show so are still very much involved.

She has a childhood that ended when she got pregnant, so very much curtailed. My child is 14 and the very idea of her having already had a baby blows my mind.

Yeah, like Ryan's World family and others similar. It's disgusting.

I know fostering doesn’t mean keeping the child but if wanting to be around a more kids was what she wanted then it could have helped fill that gap.

Can't stand them. Sue is obviously mentally stunted. She's obviously menopausal now so she got a load of designer dogs,and a poor sheepdog that's never walked 😡Now the endless once in a lifetime trips to Disney. The children could use some manners too, especially the younger girls.

Obviously not getting paid. The older ones are in social housing. You'd think they'd be able to afford to give them deposits on their homes, especially as they wouldn't have the money if it wasn't for them 🙄

Do you actually think they would pass the vetting process?

Of course not. Most of the children's bedrooms are no bigger than a cupboard or they have to share beds. They'd never be allowed.

With that many children, how do you even do the basics like take them all to the dentist? The optician? How do you go to all the parents evenings? Can you imagine the shoe shopping? It boggles my mind. Maybe they just don’t do those things.

I’d like to think that no man who had impregnated a 13 year old would be cleared to foster.

I used to like them, but the 2-3-4 hoildays to disneyworld every year and missing school everytime is over the top. Theyd never get cleared to foster, they barely have 1-1 time with their current kids and a foster kid would need a lot
of time & energy put into them!

Sadly, I think he would be surprised as to who slipped through the net. The reason they would be turned down would be lack of space not lack of morality.
I’ve known people with a loft conversion be deemed unsuitable. And somebody with a very violent past Who just hasn’t actually been convicted, They have been charged. Allowed to Foster

I don't get the 'it's OK because they're not claiming benefits' thing either.
They almost certainly do claim a lot, just because he's got a job as well doesn't mean they don't. Plus the drain on their local area through schooling /GP etc.

That poor baby Leiland-James was killed by a woman who was adopting him who went to her doctor and said she was depressed, had anger issues, drank 6 bottles of wine a week and had uncontrollable mood swings but even that wasn’t flagged as a risk factor during a background check neither were social services concerned that she had her own child at home and she subsequently lost her temper and killed the baby so I doubt it would matter if he had historically performed statutory rape.