A Baby's Hope Footprint

As the mother of a small family with friends who have large families, I am a firm believer that it's no one's business but the couple and God's how many children a couple has. However, I definitely feel that each child is a gift from God. I especially like this excerpt from Jennifer Fulwiler's article: Why My Big Family is not Overpopulating the Earth.

There’s a tendency to judge our fellow human beings by the amount of resources they consume, and not factor in what they can give back to the world. Johann Sebastian Bach was the youngest of eight; Celine Dion was the youngest of 14. Thomas Edison was a seventh child, and Benjamin Franklin was his father’s fifteenth. If the brave bystander who pulled you out of a burning building was an eighteenth child, would you still wish that his parents had stopped at fewer kids? If the scientist who invents an energy source that renders fossil fuels obsolete was baby number 10 in her family, would she still be considered “overpopulation”? Yes, each new human will consume the planet’s resources; but each new person also carries infinite potential to change the world for the better. And I believe that every new baby’s Hope Footprint far outweighs his Carbon Footprint.

Read more: Why my Big Family is not Overpopulating the Earth