If MONEY was not an issue, how many kids would you want to have?

[Cindy B]

I have a boy/girl and its perfect. Its just fine the way it is.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Same number as I want to have now: NONE!!

 

[kdibattista]

We are planning to adopt 2, maybe 3 and then hopefully try to become foster parents once that aspect of our life has settled down. I think it would be about the same even if money was no object.

 

[raisindiskids]

My dh and I have four boys(15,11,9,5) and one girl(10 weeks). If money were no problem and we had a bigger home we would probably have a couple more. Although we have said that because of our ages dh 44 and me 36 that if we would win the lottery or something we would adopt a couple of kids who really need us.

 

[funhouse8]

We wanted six but stops at four when the youngest two were just 13 months apart. I'm glad we did. I love the size of my family now and we all fit in one car. LOL

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Obi-Wan , Have you & your DW looked into adoption? I'm sorry to be so nosey, but I'm curious, because my good friend just adopted 2 babies in a row and she has MANY medical problems. I was surprised she was able to get them. The first was an open adoption where the birth mother chose her. The 2nd is a child that was abandoned, and was a ward of the state.

We never officially looked into it. When we were throwing the idea around we were told by several friends and acquaintences that we would never get approved with Lauri in the condition she is in. It's not like she is going to die in the next year or two, although it could happen , but there are times, like last night, where she can't even walk. If you think it is possible though, maybe we can go ahead and officially look into it. Just out of curiosity, how much does the average adoption run? I know the overseas ones can be quite a bit of money.

 

[TheRatPack]

Hmm, I've always thought about adopting a sibling couple, so that would bring our count to 4. I'm a SAHM and love doing things with the kids, but mine are getting older so the children I'd adopt would have to be older as well. I'm through with the whole diaper/nursing stage.

This post brought up an interesting point though, about only producing 2 to in essence replace you and not contribute to the growing population....never thought of it that way. I just like a big family

 

[Tiffann4k]

0-2. I still want to be able to live my life!

Plus I think sticking to two is responsible--DH and I would only be replacing ourselves and not actively contributing to population growth.

Just wanted to say that I have 4 and still live my life.... my kids are my life

Also as far as actively contributing to population growth, there have been studies that the population is severly decreasing....many families are not having the # of children like they use to so its good for people to get out of their 2.1 children per household ( never understand what a .1 child was...lol)

 

[Tiffann4k]

I went out with a friend today and her 4 kids under the age of 9. To me, that was too many...at least for me.

Mine are almost 5, 7, and 16. If the oldest was closer in age to the other two, I would be a crazy woman.

By the way, if each couple only gave birth to two kids, the population would die out. I think scientists calculate that "zero-population-growth" number somewhere between 2.4 and 3.

If your not use to it, it is a handful..lol I have 4 kids 9 and under as well had them all in 3 1/2 years so there isnt much of an age gap between them. It was major about 5 years ago but I wouldnt change it for the world, I love having them that close in age.

About the population thing, that is what I heard as well so it irks me when people talk about how large familys are bad for the environment, bad for this and bad for that....lol We are just trying to overpopulate the idiots

 

[ncbyrne]

We would still have the same 5 kids (all grown now w/6 grankids). Financially, we struggled through some years, but looking back, it probably wasn't a bad thing! However, if money hadn't been an issue we would have taken LOTS more trips to WDW! And THAT would have been a good thing.

 

[kdibattista]

We never officially looked into it. When we were throwing the idea around we were told by several friends and acquaintences that we would never get approved with Lauri in the condition she is in. It's not like she is going to die in the next year or two, although it could happen , but there are times, like last night, where she can't even walk. If you think it is possible though, maybe we can go ahead and officially look into it. Just out of curiosity, how much does the average adoption run? I know the overseas ones can be quite a bit of money.

You should definitely check it out. Call around to a few agencies and see what they say.

Not sure about domestic, but we are adopting internationally. It really depends on what country. We were originally adopting from Kazakhstan which would have been about $35,000. We have since changed to China and that will be about $15,000. I believe Guatemala is about $30,000 as is Russia. You do receive a $10,000 tax credit for the year that the adoption is finalized if you make under (I believe) $175,000.

Here is our adoption thread that you might want to read - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=928459&highlight=adoption+updates . It's a great group of people going through the process.

From what little I have gathered on this board, I think you both would make wonderful parents

Please PM me if you want any other info!!!

 

[Tiffann4k]

2...any more than that I don't think they would each get the attention growing up they would deserve....

Thats another misconception about large families. My kids get way more attention than my brothers 2 kids. They are too busy with other things, their prioritys are messed up. In this family the kids come before a lot of things.

 

[kdibattista]

P.S. The money for the international adoption is not due all at once in the beginning. Most are spaced out. Our breakdown is as follows (approximately) :

$5,000 - initial fee to sign with agency plus homestudy and INS papers
$5,000 - when dossier goes to China (3 - 5 months later or whenever you can get it together)
$5,000 - when you receive referral of child (9 - 10 months later)

It seems most agencies are similar in their payment schedules.

Agencies want adoptive parents... they want families for these children and they will work very hard on your behalf to make it happen. They really are looking for reasons to let you adopt a child, not deny you. I don't want to give you false hope because I'm not fully aware of the situation but it never hurts to check. You will always wonder if you don't

I hope Laurie has a better day today

 

[GoofieRuthie]

ZERO. I would spoil everyone elses and give them back. I will never ever be a SAHM again. It was nice at first but after a couple of years I became so depressed and gained so much weight that I hated my life. I have 3 girls now that I love more than life, but in all honesty, I'd stick to one child if I was starting all over. I was an only child and hated it. That is why I had always wanted more than one child when I grew up. I thought my kids would love each other like best friends and want to do everything together. HAH! Boy was I wrong.

 

[mrsg00fy]

I have 2 and would not change a thing. I have enough time, energy, love and money to provide adequately and nurture my children.
I come from a big family, 6 kids in all, and I knew very early on that there was no way I would ever want to have a big family. I was the oldest girl and had a lot of responsibility.
I have 2 wonderful boys. A lot of people ask if I want to "try for a girl."
No way! I am perfectly content. I would never want to go back to the pregnancy and diaper thing...although they were not bad experiences.
My kids are 7 and 10 and I am 40.

 

[disneysteve]

Assume that money was plentiful. You could be a SAHM. How many kids would you like to have had, or would you have?

Money was not an object. We had one. That's all we wanted and all we agreed to have. We could afford more, but didn't want more. So the answer to your question is ONE.

 

[thelittlemermaid]

We have two and one on the way, so that is more then enough for us.

 

[dizagain]

We have two wonderful girls (12 and 10) and another blessing on the way! Should be interesting starting over, but I never felt like I was "finished" and now I think I finally will! The whole family is extremely excited! As far as money goes...well, there's never enough for all we want but plenty for what we need and that's fine for now - it has never really been our focus when thinking of having children.

 

[kristen821]

2 is enough for me! I love having 2 kids and wouldn't change it purposely anyway!

 

[FluffyPumpkin78]

One! We are perfectly happy with the one we have. We have talked about possibly adopting a child when ds is older. We would like an older child, but still be younger than ds, so he would be the oldest. If that makes sense!