From WOOD-TV:
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Schwandt household was like many others: They made food, enjoyed each other’s company and argued over who was going to win.
But there’s a big difference in Jay and Kateri Schwandt’s home compared to most: They have 13 kids. All of them are boys. The large Rockford family made national headlines a couple years ago.
“I would love to have a girl, but I just don’t think it’s in the cards,” Jay Schwandt said.
Read more and check out the video above.
A few years ago, Kateri wrote about how she lives out Humanae Vitae:
It has not been an easy vocation, but we have placed our trust in God – and that trust has been the method by which we have strengthened our marital bond in difficult and trying times.
Being open to life has given us the opportunity to work together for a common good outside of ourselves, requiring selflessness and respect for one another. It has also given us a solid foundation to stand on when parental obligation is confused with secular trends. The responsibility to our family, to each other and to God in raising our children is supported by the strong values that the Church presents. We, in turn, have raised productive, God-centered and family-oriented boys who have become disciples of Christ. That’s not to say that our children are perfect Catholics, but we have been able to provide a foundation that will be the basis for their same approach to married life and love.
Through Humane Vitae, the Church presents a means of true happiness within sacramental matrimony. Through the concept of self-donation, we have enriched each other with the gift of self, offered contentment in the matrimonial union and welcomed the presence of sacramental grace.
Also, in living out the teachings of Humanae Vitae, we have taught our family the sanctity of life. When our boys are around no baby goes unnoticed, no small child is ignored and the thought of holding their own precious gift one day is something they all look forward to experiencing. As stated in Humanae Vitae, “children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute in the highest degree to their parents’ welfare.”
