British Columbia’s most prolific mother gives birth to #18
From the Associated Press, this afternoon:
A Romanian immigrant has given birth to her 18th child in British Columbia, making her the province’s most prolific mother in 20 years…
Proud dad Alexandru Ionce said Saturday that his 44-year-old wife, Livia, gave birth on Tuesday. Their daughter Abigail weighed in at seven pounds, 12 ounces.
“We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that’s the reason we did not stop the life,” said Alexandru Ionce.
The couple immigrated to Canada from Romania in 1990…. Their 17 other children range in age from 20 months to 23 years old.
Ionce said he did not know if the couple would have more children. The family now has 10 girls and eight boys.
“We would have liked a boy to be even,” he said. “We thank God all of them are healthy and happy.”
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
May God bless the Ionce family!
Congratulations to the family.
I wonder if they are viewed with the same disdain as the Duggers in America?
Go Romanians! Unfortunately, they still have more then 40 kids to go before they get the world record.
The mother looks like my great-great grandma who was from Romania. Maybe we’re related? I wonder what would happen if I had 18 kids?
I brought this up before but,
“The most prolific mother was the wife of Feodor Vassilyev, who had 69 children between 1725 and 1765. The most prolific living mother is Leontina Albina of San Antonio, Chile, who has 55 children.”
I think they deserve their full 15 minutes of fame : )
Congratulations to them!! I am in awe!!
Jess, I agree!
Jess – how young were they when they started???
Haha more power to ’em, but its certainly not for everyone!
Amanda they just kept having multiples. The Russian couple I think only lost two children in infancy which is probably the most remarkable thing. I once heard that evergreen trees promoted fertility, lol, I guess they must have lived in an evergreen forest : )
That’s alot of multiples! I wonder if the fact that she was pregnant so often increased her chances of ovulating more than one egg.
I have no science to back this up with *at all*, but it seems plausible that there could be some correlation.
“”We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives..”
————————-
Now, THAT’s Trust!!
Wow, that’s pretty cool. Sometimes I want to have a whole clan of kids, but then sometimes I don’t think I’m strong enough to even have one. I can hardly even stand to think about how much I love my parents and how much I want to make the world perfect for them — like I mean it really kills me to think about it. So I can’t even imagine having a kid. I might go crazy just from having all kinds of emotions constantly maxed out — fear, love, sadness, joy, etc.
These people are so awesome.
Alexandra,
You sound a lot like my wife. She’s an amazing mother, yet she still thinks she “isn’t good enough” and “doesn’t deserve” our baby. The love she shows for our baby is just like you’re describing; just an overwhelming barrage of emotion (almost always the good kind). I think she would say that there is no other experience that can even compare to it. So it seems to me you’re very perceptive :) God love you, Alexandra.
Wow, that’s pretty cool. Sometimes I want to have a whole clan of kids, but then sometimes I don’t think I’m strong enough to even have one. I can hardly even stand to think about how much I love my parents and how much I want to make the world perfect for them — like I mean it really kills me to think about it. So I can’t even imagine having a kid. I might go crazy just from having all kinds of emotions constantly maxed out — fear, love, sadness, joy, etc.
These people are so awesome.
Posted by: Alexandra at July 29, 2008 6:52 PM
YOu’d be surprised Alexandra just how well you would do!
I’m 5ft 1″ and weighed a hefty 91 lbs when I got pregnant with my first! I weighed 143lbs just before he was born! My mother thought I’d never survive, but I did and went on to have 3 more lovely bambinos! I would do anything for my kids and wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing my life for any of them.
And Bobby, the truth is we don’t deserve our children. They are so innocent and so precious and it seems like we can’t do enough for them. Truly our children are a gift from God. But, He must know what he’s doing if sent Gianna to you and your wife!
“”We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives..”
I just love this family!!
How fabulous to trust in Jesus!
Oh that American’s would learn this reliance upon Him!
Wow, that is just awesome. :) All the kids look happy and healthy! (And so do the parents!)
Jess–
comfort needed. My hamster chuck disappeared. ;(
On no PIP, I’m so sorry. I am as well familiar with hamster disaperences and know they can be very difficult times but try to take heart in the fact that many of them are found again alive and well. Have you checked everywhere? I once my my first hamster Butterscotch trapped in my Dad’s lunch box. Also, make sure you check the whole couch because sometimes they get stuck down the back. Two quick little tricks that might help is to put little piles of his food around different parts of the house and whichever one has food missing is where you should start looking. You can also put food in a bucket then put a ruler “ladder” going up the outside. The hamster smells the food and walks up the ruler and jumps into the bucket. Since the bucket has smooth sides your hamster won’t be able to climb out.
Again, I’m so sorry and I hope you and Chuck are reunited again as soon as possible.
With the state of the world today, it seems a bit irresponsible to me to celebrate people who are having so many children. There are many ways to prevent pregnancy, some that I think everyone on this blog would approve of. Natural family planning…I don’t like to judge peoples’ lives and life choices, but…when I heard 18 my reaction was “yikes” not “yay!”
hmm maybe they’re making up for all the people who don’t have kids? I am, after all twenty and therefore too old to have a child, so they can have my share : )
hmm,
I am sure they would prevent pregnancy If They Wanted To. Obviously, they do not. :) Looks to me that raising happy, healthy and loved children can only help the state of the world we live in.
HMMM, soooo, you think having 18 kids is irresponsible?
And do you think aborting half or more of these kids would be more “responsible”?
Congratulations to this family!! I hope that one day I will be as blessed. What a beautiful family too…they look so happy.
I am sure they would prevent pregnancy If They Wanted To. Obviously, they do not. :) Looks to me that raising happy, healthy and loved children can only help the state of the world we live in.
********Applause*****
With the state of the world today, it seems a bit irresponsible to me to celebrate people who are having so many children. There are many ways to prevent pregnancy, some that I think everyone on this blog would approve of. Natural family planning…I don’t like to judge peoples’ lives and life choices, but…when I heard 18 my reaction was “yikes” not “yay!”
Why?
I come from a family of 11 kids, and though we struggled sometimes, it was just great! This picture is awesome, and you can almost feel the love that this family has for each other….we need more stories like this.
Whoever removed the prayer I posted to Tuesday on the other thread should be fired or at least rebuked as a moderator.
Truthseeker, I am not sure which post you’re referring to, but isn’t it possible that it was deleted by accident? Just send an email to the moderators and ask them if it was deleted on purpose, and if so, why. I don’t think anyone would delete your posts intentionally if they weren’t breaking any rules.
Thanks!
TS – email me: chris@jillstanek.com
“With the state of the world today, it seems a bit irresponsible to me to celebrate people who are having so many children.”
People have been saying this for centuries. If we stopped having children altogether, eventually there’d be no one to comment on the state of the world.
Amanda,
Since the Tuesday thread is closed, I would like to share a brief perspective on the situation, that is, if you’re still viewing.
Imagine you wrote this touching piece on your blog about the UU tragedy. I come along and the first thing I post is “No mention of prayers for the dying granddaughter of a passionate prolifer, huh? Why am I not surprised?”
I could just imagine the first thing out of your keyboard, and rightfully so. The article was supposed to be a moment of empathy and solidarity, and instead I come out of left field about something that had no place on the thread to begin with, not to mention the inherent sarcasm. You’d zap me out of existence if you could.
So when it was brought to your attention about the inappropriateness of the comment, I can understand the defensiveness on your part. Try to see it from our position.
YES, that shooting was despicable.
YES, it was worthy of attention.
YES, as Prolifers we would mourn the loss of innocent life.
NO, it didn’t have to go on that particular thread. If anything, you could have emailed Jill the newstip and she would have decided whether to do a write up about it. And I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve sent newtips to Jill and they never see the light of day as far as her blog is concerned.
Don’t feel like I’m singling you out, because believe you me there are others on that thread that deserve to be slammed.
But since you are intelligent, articulate, and reasonable, I figured I could explain and not got blasted by you.
So…if you must leave again, you’ll be missed.
If you come back, I’ll be the better prolifer because of it.
Thank you for assisting your fellow UU members. May you be a source of consolation for the mourners of that tragedy.
Peace.
Anonymous post was me. Sorry.
Carder, that was very well said.
Hi Carder,
MK, as always, restores my desire to be a little more patient with some of you.
I was not upset that people took issue with my post – thats par for the course here. But first of all, I never said “why I am not surprised”. I mentioned it. And made a sarcastic remark about the culture of BLAME in this country that was not directed at any one in particular, and yet it was taken that way (persecution complex maybe??). The only one who bothered to ask me to clarify what I meant (which I did) was Lauren (thank you Lauren), and yet no apology from Sandy, who practically LEPT down my throat, insulted me, and put words in my mouth that were never stated nor implied.
When it was requested that that particular thread remain free of insults and bickering, I obliged, despite the fact that Jaque made a rather disgusting and EXTREMELY insulting comment about my entire religion and not a single one of you said anything about it. Then we have Truthseeker dolling out insults – and yet his comments remained. When I ask why he didn’t take the high road, and why his comments stayed, MY posts were deleted. You do realize that puts me in a rather odd position, after having defended the fairness of the moderation here REPEATEDLY.
THAT is what made me angry.
But first of all, I never said “why I am not surprised”. I mentioned it.
Amanda, you said,
”
No mention of prayers for the two people killed and several wounded in the UU Church shooting during a children’s choir rehearsal yesterday?”
If you didn’t say “why am I not surprised”, you might as well have.
Then you followed it up with a generalization…
“The motive of the shooter? He hated liberals and blamed them for all of his problems in life.M Boy does that sound familiar. ”
So you started something with an insult towards first of all Jill, for not mentioning another news topic which you felt was more important, then you followed it up with an insult towards conservatives in general..then you wonder why people have the audacity to get angry with you about it. Amazing.
“If you didn’t say “why am I not surprised”, you might as well have. ”
Only… I didn’t… and you’re making assumptions now.
“So you started something with an insult towards first of all Jill, for not mentioning another news topic which you felt was more important, then you followed it up with an insult towards conservatives in general..then you wonder why people have the audacity to get angry with you about it. Amazing”
Wow. Insult to Jill…Hhahahaha, you’ve GOT to be kidding. So you’re going to show me where I said ANYTHING about conservatives in that post, or anywhere in the entire thread for that matter, right? Because I didn’t. And again, the persecution complex is kicking in. That remark, as I already explained, was directed towards the culture of blame, not towards ANYONE. But go ahead and keep taking it that way if it suits you. Amazing.
(This is past the point when most rational people, including myself, MK, Carder (wish you were there when it was all going on in the first place – and Lauren obviously – would normally say “Oh, thank you for clarifying you didn’t mean it the way I took it, it wasn’t clear, sorry for jumping to conclusions.” And I’d reply as I did to Lauren, “Thank you, and I’m sorry I didn’t make it a little more clear, I wrote it when I was pretty upset.” And everything would be over with. But no, its more fun to just keep pretending what you read in to it, rather than what I actually said, is true – because it makes for more drama)
Amanda, most people here have the maturity to admit it when they make underhanded insults and are called on it.
And if I did, and if I was actually “called” on something I actually did or said, I’d most certainly admit I was wrong.
Here’s a prayer for Tuesday as she fights for her life:
St.Gerard,who,like the savior,loved children so tenderly and by your prayers freed many from disease and even death, listen to us who are pleading for our sick Tuesday. We thank God for the great gift of Tuesday and ask him to restore Tuesday to health if such be his holy will. This favor, we BEG of you through your love for all children and mothers.
Amen
Really, the petty drama is getting soooooo old. Carder explained the position very clearly and very well I might add without picking apart Amanda’s words. And then we’re back to picking through word for word what people said after Carder’s post. Seriously, if we’re talking about maturity here, we’re not setting any shining examples of it.
Thanks Elizabeth =)
MK mentioned you as an example of why I should stick around. As always, she’s right. =)
She is right an awful lot, Amanda!
That’s why she’s the mom. :)
Haha, how many times a week do you end up saying that… “I’m right because I’m the Mom!!” ? (if not too much yet, its coming, hehehe)
=)
Amanda, regardless of how irritated I was with your comments, I should not have gotten so sarcastic with you, especially in the last comment that I made.’
I took offense to your idea that we could only have inferred those things from your comments if we had “persecution complex”. It simply isn’t true.
However, I apologize for being snippy about it.
Doesn’t the dad in this picture look so sweet with his daughter? The whole family just looks precious!
I want to have a playdate at their house!!
I find this couple’s rabbit-like breeding to be selfish and irresponsible. The world has too many people already…we need less, not more. This is what birth control is for.
Um…they don’t want birth control. It’s their “choice.”
Is “rabbit-like breeding” the name you use for family?
Everyone needs to stop hating on rabbits.
And rabbits are probably one of the most pro-choice animals. They have been known to miscarry their babies on demand based on their situations. When hamsters have babies (known as pups) they eat the afterbirth, if the pup is dead or unable to squeak (showing a sign of health) the mother will eat the pup along with their umbilical cord.
Let me clarify, a healthy pup will start squeaking and squirming, if a pup is too sick to do that then the mother will eat it. The best thing you can do to prevent a mother from eating her pups is to consult your veterinarian to learn how to give her the most comfortable pregnancy possible.
Call first, don’t upset the mother by dragging her off to the vet unless it’s needed.
“I want to have a playdate at their house!!”
Lol Carla! I’ll bring the rabbits!
YES, QUIT the rabbit hating!!
But, if you must, tell Artie to stop digging up the da*m carpet.
I find this couple’s rabbit-like breeding to be selfish and irresponsible. The world has too many people already…we need less, not more. This is what birth control is for.
Birth control is for people who don’t want kids.
These people love children and want to have as many as God allows. Why should they be ridiculed for making that choice, Ray?
Can you please explain what exactly is “selfish” or “irresponsible” about making the choice to have multiple children?
Jess, several years ago I had 5 female rabbits and 1 male. The rabbits kept getting pregnant, and eating their babies. Or refusing to nurse them. I didn’t know what the problem was until I realized that there was a dog that was coming around and scaring them every day. Apparently, one of the ways they instinctively “protect” their young is to eat them?
Rabbits aren’t ‘pro-choice’ though. They’re animals and they have animal behavior. We wouldn’t mimic their eating their babies, and we shouldn’t mimic their intentional miscarriages either.
But I do love rabbits. They are cute.
Yes Bethany but wouldn’t some women be more likely to abort if they felt they couldn’t offer security to their children? It wasn’t an “ideal situation” for the rabbit and that seems to be a main reason for women to abort?
I’m so sorry you and your rabbits had to go through that : ( None of my hamsters have ever been pregnant, if they did want to have pups we’d have a wedding first!
I find this couple’s rabbit-like breeding to be selfish and irresponsible. The world has too many people already…we need less, not more. This is what birth control is for.
Posted by: Ray at July 30, 2008 7:22 PM
Ray,
did you get the attention you needed from your absurd post? Were you the class clown or just a late bloomer? Try getting attention with love instead of hate, it would do you a world of good.
God bless this family!
When it was requested that that particular thread remain free of insults and bickering, I obliged, despite the fact that Jaque made a rather disgusting and EXTREMELY insulting comment about my entire religion and not a single one of you said anything about it. Then we have Truthseeker dolling out insults – and yet his comments remained. When I ask why he didn’t take the high road, and why his comments stayed, MY posts were deleted. You do realize that puts me in a rather odd position, after having defended the fairness of the moderation here REPEATEDLY.
THAT is what made me angry.
Posted by: Amanda at July 30, 2008 11:20 AM
Amanda,
The purpose of the Tuesday thread was to show sympathy and support to LEs as she and Tuesday go through their battle with cancer. Instead you used the occasion to server your own self interests. According to the dictionary:
indigent – totally lacking in something specified . Therefore, your posts and those of Jess and PPC were self serving and indigent. I don;t know what you said in response that got deleted but my post should have stayed. It was all about supporting Les and her family; including advice and prayers to help her through. My pointing out the fact that your posts were completely lacking in sympathy for Les and Tuesday was NO GOOD reason to delete my post. How can you be so cold…..
Hahaha…TS
Taking the high road again I see. Do you enjoy perpetuating drama? Nothing more fun to do tonight?
Your post was deleted for name calling, and you know it, and yet you continue to do it. Sad but true – it just shows you don’t have anything valid to say and resort to petty drama and name calling.
Bethany – thanks, and again, sorry the original statement was not more clear.
I find this couple’s rabbit-like breeding to be selfish and irresponsible. The world has too many people already…we need less, not more. This is what birth control is for.
Posted by: Ray at July 30, 2008 7:22 PM
You’ve been reading too much Time and Newsweek. You can reduce the numbers in your family’s lineage all you want. Mine will keep growing and growing (HAPPILY). Thanks.
To avoid problems like we had the other day, maybe we should have a rule that the first ten comments on a new thread must be on-topic. Would that help in the future?
Amanda,
It must be tough when the you feel insulted by your own words and don’t have the strength to say you are sorry. I guess you call it drama cause Les and tuesday don;t mean that much to you. I call it indigence.
And since when is using the term “self-serving” or “indigent” in a post ‘name calling’ or cause for deleting it? Oh yah, I said it about you and you whined about till it got deleted.
Lesforlife,
I will repost my advice and prayers to you here.
I am a father of six and I have a son who had cancer at the age of six. It was Large T-cell non-hodgkins lymphoma. Daily prayers as a family was the single most powerful medicine that kept us strong throughout the chemotherapy and spinal taps etc… At one point about nine months into my sons treatmenet they told me that the CT scans showed his cancer was gone. I insisted that they stop the chemo and spinal taps because I could see how “bad” they were for my son and how he was getting neuropathy and walking with a gait due to the treatments. Then the doctor asked me if I would rather see my son at the age of sixty walking with a gait, or have the cancer return some day and not know wether or not it was cause I had stopped his treatments. I decided to continue the treatments nad he is now thirteen and cancer free so get ready for a long haul but keep the faith. We will be including Tuesday in our daily prayers for the next year – thru 7/30/09. And on every Tuesday and Friday between now and
then we will also pray the following:
Oh my Jesus, you who once said, ask anything of the Father in my name and He will grant it to you. Behold, in your name I ask the Father for the gift of his Holy Spirit to come down upon Tuesday and Leslie and give them the strength to perservere through lifes trials. And send your Holy Angels down to visit with her always; to comfort her and to protect her; to drive Satan and his cancerous, deceitful legions of disorder far from her, and to guide her into your Sacred Heart.
Then pray the words that Jesus taught us to pray.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses.
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I place all my trust in Thee.
Jess,
What you said about rabbits struck a chord with me. I truly did believe I had nothing to offer my child. What I thought about my lack of employment, my career, my cheap apartment in a lousy neighborhood and my rundown car were all VALID reasons given at the clinic. They reiterated what I already thought. That I could never be a teacher(baby goes to daycare)I would never marry(who wants a girl with a baby?)where would I live(my neighborhood wasn’t safe enough)no money(babies are expensive)being alone(who would help me raise this child?)even my car(how long will that thing keep running?) I assumed that I had nothing to offer my baby as a mother.
But Jess, I did. I had EVERYTHING to offer her as her mother.
When you believe that we are all made in God’s image and we are His idea there is no need to live in fear and worry. No fear about how many babies you have or how you will make it financially. Overpopulation is not a worry, concern or fear for those that love the Lord and count every child a blessing.
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 24:1
Amanda, Truthseeker,
Kindly take it somewhere else.
All right! That’s it!
Amanda made a statement. It was misunderstood. She admits that it could have been taken the wrong way. She’s sorry she wasn’t more clear.
Sandy, Jacquie, Truthseeker jumped to an erroneous conclusion. Their bad. I’m sure they’re sorry, but they aren’t here.
We’re all praying for Tuesday. I’m so sorry that Amandas church got singled out by a nutcase.
I’m sure everyone is.
Now if I hear one more word about it, you’re all grounded until further notice.
And no dessert.
Or Ipod.
And you can just walk to to your friends house, cuz I won’t give you a ride. When you’re no longer grounded that is.
Now kiss and make up and go take the dog for a walk…you wanted the dog. “Oh, I promise I’ll feed her and brush her blah, blah, blah…” But do you? NO! I end up doing it…and another thing…
Mom
Yes Bethany but wouldn’t some women be more likely to abort if they felt they couldn’t offer security to their children? It wasn’t an “ideal situation” for the rabbit and that seems to be a main reason for women to abort?
I don’t see why that would be a reason to allow women to abort. We are humans. We can think and reason. Rabbits can’t. We know that eating our babies would not protect them…Rabbits don’t have the ability to understand that.
If abortion is acceptable because rabbits supposedly miscarry intentionally, then eating your newborn baby to protect it, would be acceptable too, because rabbits do it too.
I’m so sorry you and your rabbits had to go through that : ( None of my hamsters have ever been pregnant, if they did want to have pups we’d have a wedding first!
LOL that sounds cute. Would you make a tiny veil and tuxedo and take pictures? :)
MK,
No misinterpretation on my part. Unless you can find me a post on the Tuesday blog where Amanda spoke with compassion or sympathy for Leslie and her baby. NO..they were all about attacking other people. But as you rerquested I will let it rest.
“Carder – go suck an egg!”
Grow up Truthseeker.
“The world has too many people already…we need less, not more.
Posted by: Ray at July 30, 2008 7:22 PM”
——————————————
Ray, If you’re serious about this…why don’t you
start with yourself then maybe like-minded people will do the same?
What? It’s for those “other” irresponsible people, not you?
LOL – MK, I love you. And Rae, obviously. Next weekend!!! Where shall we hang out??
TS – you’ve got a funny way of “letting it rest”. heh.
Janet – I think thats a good idea.
Next weekend? I dunno! Is there anywhere in Minneapolis that tickles your fancy that you’d like to go see?
Amanda, Thanks. Have a good day!
I just checked out the Associated Press article – 2489 comments! Wow! (No, I didn’t read them all!) No wonder – it’s filed under “World News” and “Weird News”
The posts at the AP site were pretty mean spirited against this family.
Those folks must have no concept of math or statistics.
19% of women in the US who are 45 or older have no children.
If it is okay for 19 out of a hundred to have no children, why can’t one in a million have 18?
This one family’s impact on population is negligible.
However, the effect on our economy of the overall low birthrate among educated people is not negligible.
If it is okay for 19 out of a hundred to have no children, why can’t one in a million have 18?
Don’t you know, those of us who love children and large families are part of a large conspiracy to take over the world and impose our morals and doctrine on those who have none. We’re pretty SCARY……
hippie, my point is not directed to you specifically, just so you know…. I agree with you!
hey hippie
great points!
truthseeker, your son had cancer?
oh my, i never cease to be amazed how some families suffer so much.
I’ve gone through the ringer and then some with my divorce etc but my kids are all healthy.
I spent a week in the pediatrics ward when Becca was only a week old. It really opened my eyes. I felt guilty that I eventually got to go home – many parents were there when we came and in and still there when we left.
We have friends who have a daughter with aplastic anaemia.
God bless you and yours.
Amanda: I never saw the comment about your religion but I’m sorry that it was hurtful to you. I’ve been on intermittenly these days so it’s easy to miss posts.
I spent a week in the pediatrics ward when Becca was only a week old. It really opened my eyes. I felt guilty that I eventually got to go home – many parents were there when we came and in and still there when we left.
Posted by: Patricia at July 31, 2008 6:12 PM
The onocology ward at children’s hospitals can be really rough. Seeing all those new faces coming in to the onocology clinic every Friday week , many of whom you befriend and they end up passing. Many just babys. It’s hard. and I’ll never forget the experience. My personal experience with those children in the onocology ward is why I wanted to rip those unsympathetic people on the Tuesday blog a new one.
Grow up Truthseeker.
Posted by: Rae at July 31, 2008 11:30 AM
o.k. Rae.
TS – you’ve got a funny way of “letting it rest”. heh.
Posted by: Amanda at July 31, 2008 2:24 PM
arghh