I was recruited in with 3 children so fortunately not an issue for me but there were a few couples "waiting" and now missed that window of opportunity. Some pioneer sisters wanting to marry "only in the lord" never did and are now in their late 50s. I went to school with one of them. She still lives with her parents and has never even had a foreign holiday. What a wasted life. I feel so sad for her. Although I have had some real down periods in my life I have "lived" and seen places, met wonderful people and have great memories. I'm not even aware that she ever actually recruited anyone into the cult for her to celebrate nor has she even ever had a dog let alone children. Saddest life ever. :(
Did anyone put off having children because of wt bs?
by I Faded Twice 33 Replies latest social family
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resolute Bandicoot
Amelia, get her a puppy, an intelligent breed. For people that lament not having children a good dog could help a lot.
I was thinking just today, how many childless couples that I know who were "obedient" to the 1986 (87?) district convention talk "Responsible child bearing in this time of the end".
What a shot in the foot that was for the "great increase".
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Xanthippe
Yes me. I pioneered for ten years with a two year illness break in between. When I finally stopped I was twenty-eight. Then we contemplated moving to Scotland because we knew something was terribly wrong in our congregation. Two years later having only moved about ten miles down the road we found out the problem with the religion wasn't a local thing after all!
By this time I was thirty. Then we had to get out of the poverty the cult had left us in. Twenty-five years pioneering between my husband and myself. How stupid were we? That took time. Studying, a succession of horrible jobs, still living in a grotty rented apartment. Finally at thirty-six, still only half way through a distance learning degree I realised I was running out of time, biologically.
So we had a baby girl a few weeks before I was 37. A most precious child. I love her to bits and she's all I have left of her dad now. Can't wait to see her at Christmas. So glad I didn't let that cult rob me of a child too.
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blondie
I did not. The WTS backtracked on that in the 1950's I think. We knew a family that had 6 children during that time (he was a congregation servant) and it was gossiped about. If that family and others in the broad family arrangement had not had children, there would not have been many servants and elders in the next 3 generations. But the WTS does speak out of both sides of their mouth.
1988
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1988166?q=childbearing+flood&p=par
13 Today, childbearing is not specifically a part of the work Jehovah has committed to his people. Nevertheless, it is still a privilege that he grants to married people if they desire it. Christian couples who decide to start a family should not, therefore, be criticized; neither should couples who refrain from having children.
14 So the matter of childbearing in this time of the end is a personal one that each couple must decide for itself. However, since “the time left is reduced,” married couples would do well to weigh carefully and prayerfully the pros and cons of childbearing in these times. (1 Corinthians 7:29) Those who do choose to have children should be fully aware not only of the joys childbearing can bring but also of the responsibilities involved and the problems that can arise for them and the children they bring into the world.
1951
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1953247?q=having+children&p=par
Properly married persons would not fear to have children for such reasons, though they might refrain from having them for other reasons, and do this with a clear conscience. They might refrain out of regard for the frailty of a wife whose life might be endangered by childbirth. Economic reasons might deter them. Some couples might refrain from having children now so that they can remain in a position or privilege of service that makes heavy demands on their time. As to the validity of these or other reasons in the case of individual couples we do not attempt to decide; it is for each couple to know their reasons, to know whether they are of such validity as to leave them with a clear conscience, and to bear the responsibility for their decision before Jehovah God. In brief, the Watch Tower Society’s position remains the same as when it was expressed more than two years ago. For the benefit of those not informed on that answer, we quote the first paragraph of it:
“We are not authorized either by the law of the land or by God’s Word to advise on contraceptives. The responsibility for their use must rest with those who decide that they can conscientiously use them, and their just judgment must rest with the God whom they serve, and not with us. Whether married couples in the truth want to have children or not is for them to decide, not us. Each couple must consider its own circumstances and its own purposes in view, and decide the matter and adopt a course and then take the responsibility before God for such course and its consequences. But we do unequivocally maintain that the purpose of marriage before God is the production of children, and hence if any married couples want children now, before Armageddon, that is perfectly proper and no one should criticize them for so doing, thereby meddling in their business. Neither should any be criticized for not having children, nor should we meddle in as to their reason why not. Private marital affairs are not the business of outsiders.”—The Watchtower, March 1, 1951, page 159.
1951
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1951169#h=1:0-7:759
We are not authorized either by the law of the land or by God’s Word to advise on contraceptives. The responsibility for their use must rest with those who decide that they can conscientiously use them, and their just judgment must rest with the God whom they serve, and not with us. Whether married couples in the truth want to have children or not is for them to decide, not us. Each couple must consider its own circumstances and its own purposes in view, and decide the matter and adopt a course and then take the responsibility before God for such course and its consequences. But we do unequivocally maintain that the purpose of marriage before God is the production of children, and hence if any married couples want children now, before Armageddon, that is perfectly proper and no one should criticize them for so doing, thereby meddling in their business. Neither should any be criticized for not having children, nor should we meddle in as to their reason why not. Private marital affairs are not the business of outsiders.
Children are not to be viewed as a hindrance to serving God and hence to be unwanted. Otherwise Paul would not have written, “She will be kept safe through childbearing.” Nor would he have advised women under certain circumstances “to bear children”. (1 Tim. 2:15; 5:14, NW) Under similar conditions his counsel applies today. If children come in the natural way according to which God instituted human marriage, then they are to be welcomed, even now, before the divine mandate is reissued to Armageddon survivors. You are grateful for having been brought into life, even within this present evil world, and so your children can be grateful for the same reason.
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eyeuse2badub
I suspect that the "don't have children till after Armageddon" sh*t started with Rutherford and mad Freddy. Rutherford had 1 and mad Freddy never married. (He believed he was married to the lord. lol) To those 2 guys children were nothing more that an unnecessary 'evil' to be tolerated and not pursued! I know several 'old timers' (that have now passed) that told my wife and I how having children really hindered their 'theocratic' progress! OMG!
just saying!
p.s. my wife and I had 4 children!
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Confusedandangry
Yes. I was 37 when I woke up. I try not to be bitter about it, but its effin HARD. I
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neat blue dog
Yep. I also avoided opportunities for education and even 401k at my jobs, because the end would come before my retirement age anyway. I regret it.
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stuckinarut2
Yes...we did.
You know, full time service was supposedly the better choice for spiritually mature ones....
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Finkelstein
The answer to this is yes probably into the hundred of thousands for the past decades, many thought the world was coming to an end anyway back in the late 60's and early 70's from the thinking they'll wait for the new system.
Many put off having children because of branch duties or Gilead school training or special pioneering.
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3rdgen
Wow! I was not aware of the March 1st 1951 WT article saying that JW couples who choose to have a child should not be criticized. At that time my parents had been married 9 years and chose not to have children so they could "Pios-sneer" I now realize it was NO coincidence that I was conceived the month after this article came out!
My Hubby (Baalamsass) was married the first time in the late '70s to a young woman who they both knew could never bear children. He very much wanted to be a father but figured it would be a very short time before they could have plenty in the new "order". He would never have married her if he didn't believe WTBT$ hype about the nearness of the "end".
Fast forward 20 years, he is divorced and so am I with 2 teenagers. We fell in love and married but my kids were so mad I remarried they moved 5 hours away to live with their father. I was in my late 40s and did not want to have more children. Soooooo my hubby is VERY sad that he never will experience fatherhood. Fathers Day is awful for him.