Who gets to choose?

At the risk of opening up a can of worms, I have some thoughts on my mind.  And since this is my space, I'm gonna let 'em out!

After the announcement of baby number 20 on the way to the Duggar household, I was a little surprised by the reactions I heard.  In all honesty, I believe my initial thought was, "Really?  Another one?"  But that was mild when you consider what other people were saying.  And loudly voicing.

I know the Duggar's are public figures, and therefore pretty much putting themselves out there for public scrutiny.  But the more I think about the reactions they're getting, the sadder I get.

November is the month that I lost 2 babies.  The most tragic and sad days of my life.  Those were babies that we wanted, that we were ready to welcome with open hearts.  Now, we have our wonderful son.  The excitement over his arrival from the very first day we found out he was on his way was monumental. 

Can you imagine announcing your pregnancy and being met with rolled eyes, mentions of 'birth control' and much, much worse?  I can't.  And who the heck are we to say how many children someone should have?

Here's my main point, since I seem to be having trouble getting to it:  The world is all about choice.  A woman's right to choose.  And I can't help but see the irony in this situation.  A woman can choose to abort her baby, and the majority of people think there's no problem with that and will stand up for her right.  But a woman deciding to have her 20th child (when they can afford them, and seem to have a loving home), people don't think she should have that choice?  Does that seem like a double standard to anyone else??  Worse than a double standard, since women are given the right to abort their baby, which is murder, like it or not.  And women are slammed for bringing life into this world, regardless of their ability to provide for and love those children.

I guess I'm done.  While I do wonder how the Duggar's can possibly come up with another 'J' name, I would like to offer my congratulations to them.  A new baby is a blessing.  A new baby should be celebrated whether it's number 1 or number 34.  It's a miracle that not all women are afforded.  Will I have 20 children?  I can pretty much say with all assurance that I won't.  But if you want to, and can do so without government assistance, more power to you.  If there were 20 JJ's in my house, I can't imagine anything better than that. 

Except maybe a bigger house.  :)