You probably heard it on the news. Last week, a single woman who lives with her six children (one of whom is autistic) in a two-bedroom bungalow near Los Angeles gave birth to another eight: six boys and two girls. All weigh less than four pounds and are likely to have physical and developmental challenges.

The major religious institutions are curiously silent. Don't most of them encourage their brethren to have large families? Doesn't the Bible say to "be fruitful and multiply"? Is this, then, a good thing?

Catholics are convinced they'll go to hell if they practice birth control, and Latter Day Saints feel bound to have many children. Brigham Young, the most famous leader in the Mormon religion, is believed to have had 57 offspring, and FLDS members continue to have double-digit families.

But let's consider for a moment the practicalities of raising these particular children. Medical costs are estimated to be $1.3 million for eight Caesarian preemies. And according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the cost of raising 14 children through age 17 ranges from $1.3 million to $2.7 million. Anyone who has raised a child knows how unlikely it is for that child to be self-sufficient by age 17, especially if that child is going to get the necessary education to meaningfully succeed in our world. Not including a college education, the monetary cost of raising these children is already nudging $3 million.

Where is the money going to come from for this particular family? Is this going to be another bailout by the American taxpayers? Is it appropriate to give tax credits to parents who bring in more than one new human per each adult, stressing our system and our resources?

I just re-took the eco-footprint test, which I hadn't done in years. I recycle constantly, cook almost all my food from scratch, have a veggie garden that I supplement at the farmers' market, don't eat much beef or drive a lot, and yet it would take 4.4 planet Earths to support us all if everyone lived my apparently decadent lifestyle.

Like many of us, I need to do some soul-searching and make less-profligate lifestyle choices. But we simply must stop having so many children! If our entire culture starts rewarding self-restraint rather than consumption and reproduction, we'll be in a much stronger position to focus on our spiritual evolution. And maybe we'll still have a planet.

Photo by Brandon Baunach