HOLLYWOOD, January 19, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Raising a large family often brings scorn, stigma, and bewilderment – especially if you are part of the Hollywood jet set. Actress and screenwriter Soleil Moon Frye said some of her Tinseltown acquaintances have been less than supportive during her fourth pregnancy.
“Everybody treats you like you're insane,” said Soleil, who is best known for her work as a child actress in the sitcom “Punky Brewster” (1984-1988).
“Only friends that have three or four children appreciate it, and then everybody else is like, 'What's wrong with you? Are you OK?'” she said. “And I'm like, 'Yes! I'm very excited. I'm very happy.'”
Shaming mothers who have a third – sometimes a second – child has become so common that even socially liberal websites have commented on the phenomenon. TheStir.com has recorded the rudest things women hear when they are expecting again.
Frye said she is happy to be five months into her pregnancy, since each child is “one more to take care of us when we get older.”
That is yet another area where the United States faces a deficit. Despite population increases due to mass immigration, the U.S. total fertility rate is only 1.87, below the 2.1 replacement level.
The 39-year-old actress and writer told E! Entertainment Television that she is overjoyed, despite the fact that her new child “wasn't quite planned out.”
“The reason it's such a miracle is that [pregnancy] wasn't something that always came so easily,” she said.
Despite occasional social snubs, researchers have found that children who have more siblings than average enjoy lifelong benefits. A study conducted by Ohio State University found that children from large families were significantly less likely to divorce than those who grew up with fewer siblings.
Soleil and her husband, producer Jason Goldberg, have two girls and a boy, whom she said are “so excited” about the forthcoming “little miracle baby.”
