Kelly Jo Bates is the mother of 19 children — but her kids have their sights set on smaller broods.
“My mom’s super mom,” Carlin Bates exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, February 25. “I don’t think I could ever have 19, but I definitely want a few.”
The Crown College of the Bible student, 22, went on to tell Us that her husband, Evan Stewart, has five siblings. “Right now, we’re just so excited and cherish in every little moment with [our 12-month-old daughter], Layla, but we’ll see, who knows,” she said.
Carlin’s older sister Erin Bates chimed in, “Maybe [they’ll have] between six and 19.”
As for their sister-in-law Whitney Bates, the Lincoln Memorial University grad, 22, told Us that 19 children “sounds a little high,” for her and husband Zach Bates. She added, “We’ll see. I’m sure we’ll have a few more but probably not 19. Two [more] will be great.”
Whitney is already the mother of Bradley, 6, Kaci, 4, and Khloé, 15 months. In November 2020, the Bringing Up Bates star announced via Instagram that she and Zach Bates are expecting baby No. 4.
“We are SOO excited to share the news that we are expecting our sweet baby in June 2021!” the pregnant star captioned her Instagram reveal. “There’s no way to describe the joy in our hearts right now. It feels like all of our free time is spent talking about and planning for this new little blessing that will soon fill our home with smiles and giggles. Brad and Kaci are already trying to guess the gender, and we feel like each day is a celebration just anticipating baby number four joining our family.”
While Whitney awaits her fourth child, she is enjoying being pregnant alongside her sister-in-law Josie Bates. (The hairdresser, 21, revealed in January that she is expecting baby No. 2.)
“I have to say, it’s probably the absolute funniest thing,” Whitney told Us. “To go through all of these experiences, they’re huge and they’re life changing. It’s so fun. To get to talk and go back and forth about things we’re experiencing and what we’re going through, I love it. I know when we get older and our kids are grown, we’re going to look back on the fun times that we got to be pregnant together.”
Bringing Up Bates returns to UPtv Thursday, April, 8, at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi