Bringing Up Bates alum Erin Bates hopes to continue expanding her family with husband Chad Paine despite being hospitalized after welcoming their seventh baby.
Bates, 35, was asked in a Wednesday, July 15, Instagram Q&A session whether she plans to have more kids “if [her] health wasn’t a concern.”
“Without a doubt, yes!” Bates replied via her Instagram Stories. “We both just love kids and consider it our highest calling to raise them to know and love Jesus.”
Bates also pondered whether “adoption is in [their] future.”
“I don’t know, [but] I’m so thankful for the children the Lord gave us,” she added.
Bates and Paine, 39, have been married since 2013 and are the parents of seven. They welcomed their youngest child, son Henry, in September 2025. Shortly after giving birth, Bates was hospitalized for septic shock.
“We wanted to thank each and every one of you for all the prayers and support you have given on our behalf. It’s been a week since our miracle, Henry came into the world,” Paine wrote in an Instagram statement at the time. “He is doing well in the NICU and is our bundle of happiness. We had asked for prayer for recovery for Erin due to complications. Her labor was longer and more intense than previous births. She has been fighting through it and has been such a light and sweet testimony of grace to nurses, staff, and doctors alike. We are all moved by her kindness and gratefulness in the midst of pain.”
According to Paine, Bates developed a “severe UTI and kidney infection” that caused sepsis.
“She is currently still in the ICU as doctors continue to treat, diagnose, and search for answers,” he stated. “We would covet your prayers for this beautiful girl who is such a light in a dark world. We are holding onto God’s promises.”
After spending weeks in the hospital, Bates was eventually discharged.
“I don’t even have the words. For weeks, my leg has not worked (since my seizure in the hospital),” she wrote in a candid Instagram update in October 2025. “I’ve been carried, wheeled, and held up through tears and prayers … and today — it moved. Today I took steps. They might be a little wobbly, but they are steps I wasn’t sure I’d ever take again.”
She continued, “I’ve cried until I laughed, and laughed until I cried. My heart is overflowing with gratitude. Jesus, You are faithful. You are the Healer. All glory belongs to You. To those who have prayed and encouraged us, thank you. You have been part of this miracle. To the doctors, nurses, and therapists who have poured so much into my recovery — we are forever grateful.”
Erin is one of Gil and Kelly Jo Bates’ 19 children. The family’s UPtv reality series aired from 2015 to 2021.
