Too many kids?

An article in Tuesday’s Deseret News about the state’s high birth rate sparked a slew of interesting responses from readers. I was fascinated by the comments either praising or condemning Utah as the baby-making capital of the United States.

One comment said if you “can’t feed ‘em, don’t breed ‘em.” Another only slightly more eloquent comment read, “Let’s hurry and kill the Earth, so we can move on. To heck with future generations.”

I don’t necessarily want a gaggle of children (I only have one now and I’m pretty much exhausted), but if I can clothe, feed and love all my children, I should be able to have as many as I want without judgment from anyone.

I see women in the grocery store with a baby in a sling, one in the seat, two in the basket and three holding on to her skirt and wonder how she does it. But if she can handle it — emotionally and financially — then I say more power to her. If she’s on welfare and still popping out the kids, that’s a different story.

What’s your opinion — is the number of kids you have purely a personal decision, or do we have a social responsibility to limit the size of our families?