I have long been curious about women with large families. Besides admiring their poise in the face of chaos, I find myself drawn to the deep-seated contentment and joy that seems to be a theme among so many of them. 

The birth dearth

My own family is still quite small and our children are very young. It seems almost unfathomable to multiply the number of children by 3 or 4. And yet it hardly seems like playground chit-chat to ask deeply personal questions like, “Are you happy?” or “How do you manage this?” or “Was this the plan?” or even “Did NFP just … not ‘work’ for you?” 

Compounding this very personal interest, my undergraduate studies in economics made me all too aware of the “demographic winter” and the low replacement rate plaguing societies across the globe. Equally intriguing to me is the opposite end of the pendulum swing: The small percentage of society that is reproducing at a dramatically higher-than-average rate. 

This 5% of the population is exactly who Dr. Catherine Pakaluk set out to study in her recent book Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth. Even in mainstream media, Hannah’s Children has been making big waves since its release in 2024. It has even been noticed by the likes of The New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal.

In Hannah’s Children, society’s misunderstanding of large families (and my own personal curiosities) is finally addressed in a balanced, academic, and enlightening way. Although the choice to have many children may not be a possibility (or desire) for everyone, the cultural impact and economic significance of large families are well worth noting. Hannah’s Children will have you rethinking what you think you know about large families and leave you inspired by these women’s courageous example of counter-cultural living.

Children are a blessing

Dr. Catherine Pakaluk (The Catholic University of America) and Emily Reynolds (Wheatley Institute) traveled across the country to speak with college-educated women with 5 or more children. These women are not “oppressed” by their fertility, nor are they deprived of alternative options. Rather, Pakaluk found, they are making a conscious and grateful choice to have a large family. Throughout the interviews, Pakaluk was able to get to the root values of the women to paint a rich picture of why this deeply personal choice is so significant and important for a healthy society.

I was struck that the women interviewed were able to articulate the rich benefits that children have brought to their lives without sounding preachy or glossing over the sacrifices they made. They didn’t have large numbers of children because it was the path of least resistance—they made a choice and are now living in the abundant fruits. The women speak of childbearing as “the most worthwhile thing that I will do in this life” and that they “experienced this feeling of [their] love expanding.”

One woman describes the process of having more and more children by saying, “I think that part of your identity just evolves into motherhood being a really big tenet of who you are and what you’re giving to the world, like a shift.” 

The women’s diverse situations and experiences are refreshing and deeply inspiring. The central emphasis that unites all the interviews is the priceless value of the child—not as a moral requirement, but rather, an enriching and unrepeatable contribution to society and a family. One interviewee says:

Finding joy in family

Today, modern women are faced with the constant battle between family and career. Women feel keenly the fact that time is the one commodity that we can’t multiply. The women in Pakaluk’s book choose to grow their family far beyond the average 1.66 births per women yet don’t have any more time than the average woman. Instead, they see their children as part of their purpose and intricately connected to their personal fulfillment. As a result, they cheerfully accept the time commitment, oftentimes without much concern for the cost.

As someone who is considering a large family, I found this book to be very encouraging. By no means, however, is the audience for this book limited to individuals planning to be part of the 5% themselves. Hannah’s Children is a celebration of the true value of the child for society and for families—a lesson that can and should be learned by any member of the human race. 

Dr. Pakaluk makes insightful connections with public policy and ideas that tangentially pair with another popular read, Family Unfriendly by Timothy Carney. In addition to its excellent analysis of the economic and political landscape and its interplay with the birth dearth, Hannah’s Children truly shines as a rare and precious insight into the joys of large families. 

I have long been a Dr. Pakaluk fan, and this book could easily be considered her piece de resistance (although I suspect she would award that title to her own numerous children).

To hear more from Dr Pakaluk, see her recent interview with Erika Ahern.