Though experts see high living costs and low social support as the main drivers of plummeting birth rates, recent polling has shown that many people forgo having children simply because they don’t want them.

By Daniel Payne | National Catholic Register

For Jonas and Ashley Batemen, the growth of their Mid-Atlantic family has been a “transformative experience.”

The Batemans were married in 2008 and have six children. Prior to getting married, the two “knew we wanted children but had very little discussion about how that would look,” Ashley said.