Hannah's Children

The Stories of Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth

De: Catherine Pakaluk

Narrado por: Jaimee Draper

A portrait of America's most interesting yet overlooked women.

In the midst of a historic "birth dearth," why do some 5 percent of American women choose to defy the demographic norm by bearing five or more children? Hannah’s Children is a compelling portrait of these overlooked but fascinating mothers who, like the biblical Hannah, see their children as their purpose, their contribution, and their greatest blessing.

The social scientist Catherine Pakaluk, herself the mother of eight, traveled across the United States and interviewed fifty-five college-educated women who were raising five or more children. Through open-ended questions, she sought to understand who these women are, why and when they chose to have a large family, and what this choice means for them, their families, and the nation.

Hannah’s Children is more than interesting stories of extraordinary women. It presents information that is urgently relevant for the future of American prosperity. Many countries have experimented with aggressively pro-natalist public policies, and all of them have failed. Pakaluk finds that the quantitative methods to which the social sciences limit themselves overlook important questions of meaning and identity in their inquiries into fertility rates. Her book is a pathbreaking foray into questions of purpose, religion, transcendence, healing, and growth—questions that ought to inform economic inquiry in the future.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Catherine Pakaluk (P)2024 Oasis Audio

Fascinating Insights

I loved hearing the personal stories of each mom. They all had such fascinating insights. This would be good for all moms and dads to listen to even if they have smaller families because of insightful reflections on family in general. Narrator did an exceptional job.

Compelling Listen.

I enjoyed listening to the authors interviews. All these women have been called by God to have large families and they shared wisdom that families with less than 4 children could learn from and creatively work to instill in their children. I myself am a college educated female who waited too long to have more than my three children. I share the same views as these women and hope to encourage my daughters to consider children and family more important than a career.

Inspiring and well read

This book changed my perspective on raising children and helped me overcome fears of taking the plunge on that first child. The narrator was engaging and pleasant to listen to. The many stories warmed my heart. Often the stories of family love and relationships brought tears to my eyes. Some parts of the book were more complex and fact filled and required undivided attention to follow. Mostly though it was a narrative of enjoyable interviews and conclusions and similarities gathered from them. I highly recommend this book.

A fascinating look into big families & the women that birth them.

It’s enlightening to hear from a wide range of mothers of large families, on their varied reasons for making countercultural choices.

I was surprised that rising infertility rates were not noted as a possible cause for dwindling birth rates, since this is a huge issue facing many, many women today who would love to have children.

Absolutely worth your time!

Loved this book! It helps open your eyes to why big families are great and that we as a society should be more open to it. Enjoyed each mother’s story.

Thought provoking!

This book is one of a kind and so thought provoking. I don’t necessarily agree with all the author’s views but love hearing all the stories and thinking about the concepts presented. This is a great book for mothers considering having more children!

Family or co-workers? Who'd you prefer?

I really wanted to make the headline, "No one looks forward to seeing their co-workers in heaven."

Although this is mainly about the decisions women make to have a large family over career, there was a section from a Mormon mom relaying a bit of Mormon theology (I'm not a Mormon, but I do appreciate them for genealogy tools and food preservation videos) about families being eternal. That had me thinking about heaven and eternity and career and I have very little interest in seeing any of my co-workers in the afterlife. For some, if I saw them, I would immediately know that I'm in Hell.

The author does not spend a lot of time bashing feminism but feminism is the unhappy childless wine aunt at the cookout. It is acknowledged but their seat at the table isn't in a spot of honor. Another topic acknowledged, but not the focus is the demographic population decline. Long story short financial incentives are not going to make women want to have a bunch of babies.

There are many moms interviewed in the book. Some do have careers. There is the part time pediatrician and the college professor. But majority of moms in the book have chosen to focus on being a mother of many kids. In some ways their reasons or situations overlap, but no always.

There is some research to the book. There is an accompanying PDF with sources. Just listening, one might miss the parts where studies or researched information is mentioned.

The narration is phenomenal. The narrator makes the statements from the different moms sound as if she listened to the interview tapes and chose to take on the different women;s speech patterns.

I appreciate hearing the different stories from different women, Christian, Jewish, etc about how and why they chose to have children and not stop at two. This is mainly about women who have their own biological families and only one blended family. This is not about large adopted families. However, as someone trying to increase her family via adoption the moms explain why the more is the merrier and way more rewarding than a career where everyone will forget you 6 months after you've retired or left. So they won't be looking you up in the heavenly kingdom.

an economist's analytical approach layered atop a mother's nuanced perspective.

Excellent content-rich interviews with each of the mothers, chapter by chapter. Thought-Provoking and challenging, for sure. fascinating to hear from the 5% bucking the downward spiral of the birth dearth, and giving birth to Hannah's children.

Love it!!

I love this book so much - it speaks to my soul!! I’ve been saddened hearing many of my peers decide not to have children (I’m in my late 20’s), and I am so encouraged by these women quietly defying the birth dearth. Sharing this with all my friends!!

The narrator also did an excellent job!! She truly brought the women’s stories to life by her voice acting!! Bravo!!

Life Changing

In addition to providing the most sound policy I've read in a book when it comes to actually boosting birth rates (support and empower religious communities and religious education), this book yields a treasure trove of insights through a myriad of interviews with deeply invested parents. I came into this book hoping, personally, for at least seven, maybe eight, kids. I came out hoping for ten or.... really as many as I can have. This book helped me feel ok with embracing the fact that, for me, having and raising kids is the most meaningful thing I can do with my life. Getting to hear about the lives and experiences and perspectives of others who have decided the same helped me feel comfortable leaning in. In other words, this book does its part to create a feeling of pronatalist camaraderie and community for those living in otherwise antinatalist zones. As such, it doesn't just point to the solution; it is part of it.