Human Matters with Sami Parker examines the rise of big families

In the latest episode of Human Matters with Sami Parker, a video series powered by Live Action, Parker takes a look at the seemingly growing number of large families, many of whom have a presence online.

Is this just a "trend" amplified by social media, or is it a sign of a bigger shift in society? Watch as she examines these questions.

Key Takeaways:

• In Human Matters with Sami Parker, she discusses the rise of large families, especially as portrayed on the internet.

• She notes that the fact that many of these families are so popular isn't just a social media trend — it is a sign of a greater shift in society at large.

• She continues by pointing out that modern life is lacking, and a family offers belonging, permanence, and identity.

• She debunks claims that parents with large families can't offer their children enough love and attention, and that large families contribute to overpopulation and the destruction of the planet.

The Details:

Big Families Are Back—Here’s Why

Parker begins by highlighting some internet-famous families who have gained fame partly due to their many children. She notes that the popularity of these families reveals a greater longing that many people have.

"The fact that millions of people stop scrolling to watch the messy, busy, loud, full of children-life — it says something deeper," she says. "Because trends don’t come from nowhere."

She credits this growing interest in larger families to the fact that modern life is lacking. People are lonelier than ever, and the world feels fragmented. A family, with belonging, permanence, and identity, can help fulfill the emptiness.

She also notes that many people no longer want to live entirely for themselves. A family requires sacrificial love — and raising children in this way is incredibly fulfilling.

Parker says:

We're discovering that online relationships with people feel really shallow and that they at least are just not filling a certain innate need within us. But family is different. Family is built in belonging and permanence and identity.

And in a world that feels increasingly fragmented and individualistic, that kind of connection is incredibly compelling. We don't just want it, we need it.

The second reason we are considering having larger families is that we don't actually want our lives to revolve entirely around ourselves. Modern culture has promised that the pleasure of doing glamorous things would bring us the happiness that we all need. The impressive education, the high-powered career, the freedom to travel, to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Those were supposed to be the keys to a fulfilling life.

But in reality, meaning doesn't come from living for yourself. It comes from giving yourself away. And there are a lot of ways to love sacrificially, but children uniquely demand it. They require your time, your energy, your patience, and your entire life in many ways. And because of that, they create a kind of meaning and purpose that is very hard to replicate anywhere else.

Zoom In:

Still, she says, there are many naysayers to this kind of thinking. Often, people will argue that parents with many children can't give them all enough love or attention. But, she notes, attention is not the same as love. And love doesn't divide with each child — it multiplies.

Importantly, she notes, "children with siblings learn how to care for others and how to exist in a community that doesn't revolve entirely around them."

She also debunks the idea that encouraging bigger families is somehow restrictive for women, as well as the false notion that large families are bad for the planet and will cause overpopulation.

The Bottom Line:

Parker ends with a reminder that in a unique way, family offers something invaluable.

"When you strip everything else away- things like status, income, experiences, achievement, what people are actually longing for is connection, purpose, and a life that means something beyond themselves," she says. "Family offers this in a way almost nothing else does."