23. I kid you not. Two consecutive wives. First had 12 children then died. Second wife had 11, then finally aged out of fertility - saved by the bell, so to speak.
The guy wasn't even Mo, until the time I was a mishie in the ward in Brazil. By the time I knew him, all of the first batch was grown and out of the house, and about half of the second batch were also out of the house. He had a passable but not great income.
A guy from our mission had 15 kids last time I saw him at a 25-year reunion. He became a pediatrician, so I think he knew about birth control. That was the last reunion I went to, so I don't know how many he had overall. One wife.
Another friend of DH had 9 kids, his wife died, he then married a woman with 9 kids, so 18 overall. Not sure if they had another kid together.
I retired after 2 kids, much to the regret and agony of my in-laws.
I went through high school with kids from two different families which each had 17 children. That's right. TWO families with 17 children each. Each of these families had one mother, no multiple births. This is not hearsay, I knew them, since there was a kid in my grade, one a year older, one a year younger, etc., etc. This was in Utah Valley.
Four of my TBM cousins in Bountiful, SLC, and Provo have 12 children. Three of the mothers look awful, and the fourth looks beautiful, after giving birth 12 times. All four mothers seem "spaced-out", with that glazed stare and that whispery temple-voice, and they seem to have identical personalities (or lack of). One cousin decided on his mission that he wanted 12 children, and most of the girls would not date him, because of that. He and his wife had 3 babies die at the end, trying for Baby Number 12. Countless miscarriages in between.
One of my other cousins is a doctor, and he thinks this is very foolish--he stopped at 8. One of his sons has 23 children, so far. 12 are their own, and the others are adopted, from Africa. The older ones help raise the little ones. Both parents are overweight and unhealthy. They live in the Pacific Northwest.
None of these people seem very happy, even with their excesses of kids, high church positions and self-importance.
It is interesting, and very telling, to talk to the children in these large families! They have a negative perspective on big families! Most had to have after-school and weekend jobs, had too much babysitting and household chores, and were overburdened with Mormon perfectionism. They didn't get very far, education-wise. More than half of the kids (now young adults) have left the cult. They don't plan on having a lot of kids. A few want zero.
As I've learned about the complexities of existence and the miracle of every unique person, I have devoted my life to celebrating each baby that fine women and girls have blessed me with.
Currently trying for another (#10) But my awesome fiancee will have no fewer than three.
The more one is able to see miracles, the more one basks in what matters most: relationships.
Her fiance was #16 of 16. Those kids were a "mess." They had learned to beg and I was their target after she dumped him at the alter and his sister (#15) still tries to hit me up for money.
My BIL is #1 of 13. His mother was 16 when he was born and his father was 29. She had another child the next year, and a set of twins the year after that. Her husband died in his 60s and she has had a group of the kids who never succeeded living with her since. One is my age (61) and has never held more than a part-time job and lives off her mother, and gives her mother advice nonstop.