CI’m little girls who have a favorite doll. Some divide her care between two or three dolls at a time. As a child, MaryBeth Lewis cared for 10 dolls every night. As he grew up, he did everything to make that fantasy a reality. But then she overcame that reality, going on to cradle 13 children. She doesn’t pay, she spent the impossible and falsified documents, risking prison, to become a mother again: trying to take possession of twins born to a surrogate mother. The New York Times traces the incredible story of this supermom bordering on the criminal. But, without reaching this level of obsession, that of convinced mothers of many children is a phenomenon. Maybe niche, but a solid and surprising niche in these times marked by the birth rate decline.
In Italy there are approximately 126 thousand large families, i.e. those who have more than four children. They call them Panda families because they are endangered (they represent 1.3% of the total families surveyed by Istat, when “single-person” families, i.e. made up of a single man or woman, number 9 million). In the Western world the hiatus is significant everywhere.
In the USA, approximately 5% of women today have five or more children (compared to 20% in 1976), approximately 1% (1.2%) have seven or more (compared to 6.2% in 1976). But they have been relatively constant percentages since 1990: in a world of families with two children if all goes well, with birth rates below the threshold useful for generational turnover, the resistance of this niche is sensational. We could say: a small but robust barrier to Western demographic suicide.
MaryBeth Lewis, the woman who had 13 children but wanted one more
To summarize MaryBeth’s story: She was 25 years old when she married a pilot named Bob Lewis, with whom she had five daughters. As girls approached adulthood and the empty nest syndrome made itself felt, MaryBeth desired more children. Eventually the couple “dedicated themselves to their infertility.” In 2007, three weeks before her fiftieth birthday, MaryBeth gave birth to twin girls. But he wasn’t done yet. Despite medical incidents, miscarriages and the doubts of her friends, she continued to fight. Once her embryos ran out, she bought donor sperm and eggs and created new ones. Until she gave birth to her thirteenth child at the remarkable age of 62.
It wasn’t enough for her: to bring one last pair of children into the world, she went so far as to deceive a clinic, a judge and even her husband. In two years, he spent more than $500,000, and lost 30 pounds, fighting for his freedom and custody of the twins he claims are his.
In the article for the New York Times Elinor Carucci tries to understand what was behind this extreme desire for motherhood. Perhaps the illness of MaryBeth’s second daughter, Kristina, had an impact (she suffered from bipolar disorder and had a very serious alcohol addiction that killed her). Among the theories, that according to which a new newborn was there promise of “someone who would not abandon her”. The husband was sure that the children did it feel young. For his friends it was fear of lonelinesswhich the thrill of new motherhood kept at bay. But if these are MaryBeth Lewis’ probable motivations, what drives couples, but especially women, to say “one more” when it comes to children?
Large families and where to find them: billionaires
If in the past have numerous offspring it meant more working members, therefore more moneytoday maintaining it is an economic burden. Having more children is therefore a sign of wealth, indeed luxury as Eliza Filby tells itauthor of Inheritocracy: It’s Time to Talk About the Bank of Mum and Dad interviewed by Financial Times. «One child is increasingly the norm for dual-income families. Two is a bit much, and three or more is not just an anomaly: to do them you have to be super rich». And in fact…
According to one study conducted by Forbes out of over 700 American billionairesat least 22 have seven or more children. The most famous is of course Elon Musk: the owner of Tesla has 14 children and is a declared supporter of pronatalisma very popular theory among the US far right, which Musk considers fundamental for the survival of humanity in a context of declining birth rates.
Among billionaires with many children, for example, Steven Spielberg and the owner of the New York Mets Steve Cohen. Some have had them all with the same partner. Others, like Musk and Ron Perelman, father of eight, with multiple women. America’s richest self-made woman, Diane Hendricks, also has seven children, as does Little Caesars Pizza co-founder Marian Ilitch.
Who are the supermoms of 2025. The role of faith
Often, of course, large families are religious. He confirms it Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, American Catholic mother of eight, in her book Hannah’s children: women who silently challenge the scarcity of births. All 55 women she interviewed for the book, all college-educated, are believers, even if of different faiths.
But is faith enough to explain such a vocation to motherhood, in a world that is decidedly going in the opposite direction?
The influencer mothers of 6, 10, 22 children
These super mothers certainly arouse the curiosity of those who struggle after their only child: they try it the influencers, who base their success on prolificacy. You see Giorgia Mosca, aka 6timesmammathat since when he opened the profile of children and had 4 more (he has 10!). OR Anna Martini, mother of 6 boys, who shares the social story of his XXL Family with Claudio Tappino, alias papadi6maschi.
Record case that of Kristina Ozturk, 27, known on social media for her 22 children – through surrogacy. Yes, because the issue – again from the point of view of the exhausted mother of an only child – is not giving birth to the children. But let them grow, without going crazy. And in fact, this is why influencer supermoms captivate us – while disturbing us. They show how they hold the balance of their hyper family without making a pleat.
Are mothers of four children (and more) less stressed than those with one or two?
Where’s the trick? Is it all fiction in favor of the camera? In part, we can assume it. But there are studies that say mothers of four or more children have lower stress levels than those with one or two.
A TODAY poll, for example, found that, if mothers of three children struggle, once they exceed three children, sailing is smoother. The hypothesis – easy – is that mothers of large families learn to manage stress better and to “let go” of what cannot be controlled. Or perhaps women who deal with stress more easily are more likely to want more children? In large families, parents would then reap the stress-relieving benefits of teamwork and bonding between siblings. Theories.