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Sarah Dawes, of Derbyshire, and her “quiver full” of children
A Christian evangelical movement where followers avoid contraception and have as many children as they can is spreading to the UK. They are The Quiverfull, writes Cat McShane.
“Get married. Have a quiver full of kids if you can.”
So said unsuccessful presidential candidate and father-of-five Mitt Romney in a recent speech to graduates. It was a conscious echo of Psalm 127.
The psalm – where children are compared to arrows for war – is the inspiration for the Quiverfull movement.
“Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They shall not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.”
Christians in the movement believe in giving up all forms of contraception and accepting as many children as God gives, both as a sign of obedience to God and in a bid to ensure the future of the faith.
In the US, Quiverfull families frequently reach up to a dozen children with the numbers of adherents in the tens of thousands. But now the movement is gaining popularity in other countries.
In the UK, where the average family size is 1.7 children, this makes couples who follow its teachings stand out.
Vicki and Phil have just had their sixth child. “I feel this is the normal [situation] God created and God initially wanted, and that actually society has gone a little skew-whiff,” says Vicki, of south London.
Vicki and Phil were both raised as Christians, but came to Quiverfull ideas after they were married. Early on, they used contraception, but after Vicki responded badly to the contraceptive pill, they began merely avoiding sex during Vicki’s most fertile time of the month. From there they decided to do without contraception completely.
“Over time, we realised that actually if He [God] wants to conceive a baby during that time, and he made her naturally desire her husband more, maybe that’s what he’d prefer us to do,” she says.
In common with other Quiverfull families, Vicki had to wait for her husband to come round to her ideas.
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(Thanks to Harsh Kapoor of SACW)