Title: Hannah’s Children
Author: Catherine Pakaluk
Major Themes: Family, Motherhood, Babies, Culture, Population
Synopsis: Why do some women have large families despite the overwhelming downward trend in women’s fertility?
I often read book reviews that other people have written, and quite often find books I want to read by doing that. One that I came across recently caught my eye because I have eight children. Since Hannah’s Children is a study of women who have more children than average, it sounded like a book I would relate to and would possibly find inspiring. I was pleased to find an online library from which I could borrow the book, immediately put it on hold, and then read it as soon as it was available.
Publisher’s description:
In the midst of a historic “birth dearth,” why do some 5 percent of American women choose to defy the demographic norm by bearing five or more children? Hannah’s Children is a compelling portrait of these overlooked but fascinating mothers who, like the biblical Hannah, see their children as their purpose, their contribution, and their greatest blessing.
The social scientist Catherine Pakaluk, herself the mother of eight, traveled across the United States and interviewed fifty-five college-educated women who were raising five or more children. Through open-ended questions, she sought to understand who these women are, why and when they chose to have a large family, and what this choice means for them, their families, and the nation.
Hannah’s Children is more than interesting stories of extraordinary women. It presents information that is urgently relevant for the future of American prosperity. Many countries have experimented with aggressively pro-natalist public policies, and all of them have failed. Pakaluk finds that the quantitative methods to which the social sciences limit themselves overlook important questions of meaning and identity in their inquiries into fertility rates. Her book is a pathbreaking foray into questions of purpose, religion, transcendence, healing, and growth—questions that ought to inform economic inquiry in the future.
My thoughts:
Hannah’s Children is very readable. I enjoyed learning about the reasons that other women have chosen to have more children than most of society and their attitudes toward their families. I can easily relate to many of their experiences and feelings. A number of the women who were interviewed are directly quoted in the book, and those quotes are quite powerful. One chapter that really stood out to me was near the end of the book, where several women discuss how having another baby after a loss brought healing to the entire family, or to one family member in particular. We have experienced that in our own family, and it was very special to read about it happening to others. God knows what He is doing!
A few of the women talked about how special it was for their teenagers when a new baby was born to the family. In at least one place in this study, the author discussed the fact that many of today’s teenagers cannot remember having a baby in the house, and how that lack is a contributing factor to the low birth rate of today—and one woman told a story that was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. When one of her babies was born, a couple of her sons brought a 10- or 11-year-old friend in to see the baby. That friend held a baby that day for the first time in his life. Reading these stories and facts reminded me of how blessed children in large families are, to have the experience of loving and caring for younger siblings. I can personally testify to the love and joy that babies and young children bring to teenage siblings, because I see it in our own home. A quote that stood out to me put it very well: “…children give love, but they also call forth love…” It was wonderful to read about other families with the same attitudes.
I was also struck by the reasons that women decide against having a number of children. It’s often a simple matter of choosing whether to have children, or to be a successful business person—and religious convictions often enter into the equation. Of the 55 women interviewed, all except one cited their faith as a contributing factor to their decision to have a larger-then-normal family—and none regretted their choice. However, every story is different, as every person and every family is unique.
Another topic that spoke to me was the way many women considered having children to be what completed their marriage, what really made them a family. One woman said that “children couldn’t ruin her marriage since children were the meaning of her marriage.” She is also described as genuinely enjoying raising her teenagers, causing the author to speculate whether the stereotypical teenage years, being full of insecurity and angst, is caused by the lack of children and babies around to care for and love.
I recommend Hannah’s Children to anyone interested in families and children—and in the future of human civilization! This is a very thoughtful, readable study of family size and how it affects mothers, marriages, and older siblings. In conclusion, here is one of my favorite quotes from the book: “We are most ourselves when we give ourselves away. That’s just the paradox of the Cross. So, I do think that’s a mystery.”
WARNING: In quotes from a number of the women interviewed, words such as heck, omigosh, gosh, fuck, screw you, bullshit. There are also a few references to marital intimacy, but nothing explicit.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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