If you’re a parent, you probably can agree that children are expensive. It costs a lot to clothe, feed, entertain and educate children. From books and toys to shoes and sandwiches, the expenses can seem never ending.
Sure, the expenses are worth it because children are truly the best thing ever, but we’re expressing this from an American mindset where a typical family only has 2 or 3 children. What about a family that has dozens of children?
In Uganda, polygamy is legal, and one man there has truly taken advantage of that fact. He doesn’t just have two or three wives. He currently has 12 wives.
Birth control is frowned upon in Uganda as it is believed that it leads to promiscuity, so during Musa Hasahya’s marriages, none of his wives were on birth control. As you may expect, that leads to multiple children. In fact, Hasahya has 102 children ranging in age from 6 to 51. He also has 568 grandchildren.
Until recently, none of Hasahya’s wives have been on birth control, but he wants that to change. He claims that he no longer wants any more children. His reasoning is not as simple as 102 being enough children for him. No, he has another entirely different reason – cost of living.
According to The Sun, Hasahya said, “My income has become lower and lower over the years due to the rising cost of living and my family has become bigger and bigger.”
Hasahya’s youngest wife, Zulaika, is about 20 years younger than his oldest child. She has given birth to 11 of his children, but she no longer plans to have any more children. She explained, “I’m not having any more children. I’ve seen the bad financial situation and am now taking the birth control pill.”
Hasahya is a farmer and about one third of his children currently live with him on the farm. His wives also live with him all in one house. According to Hasahya, “All my wives live together in the same house. It’s easy for me to monitor them and also stop them eloping with other men in this village.”
Due to his health, Hasahya is no longer working, which makes the impact of inflation even harder on his extremely large family. Two of his wives have reportedly left him because of the financial situation.
Financial strains aren’t the only challenges to having such a large family. Hasahya admits that he doesn’t know the names of all of his children.
Has your family been impacted by inflation? Can you even fathom what it might be like to be financially responsible for 102 children?
