Meet Janet Zitting, a woman with 44 siblings who grew up in polygamy
Janet Zitting, who grew up in a polygamous household with 44 siblings, is gaining viral attention for sharing her unconventional upbringing. She describes the lack of privacy and the secretive nature of her childhood within a fundamentalist religious group.
Why it matters
The story offers a rare, personal perspective on the realities of life within polygamous communities in the United States.
It was a regular afternoon. Janet Zitting was around eight or ten years old. She was hanging out with the neighbour’s child. In the middle of the conversation, she asked, “Oh, so how many mums do you have?” The other child looked perplexed. “What do you mean? I only have one mum.” Zitting walked away from that conversation feeling sorry for the child. One mum seemed impossibly lonely.Zitting, now 32, grew up in a family that practised polygamy. She was raised by her father and four mothers, including her biological mother. And she has 44 siblings. Her family was part of a polygamous group called The Work, an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, led by Warren Jeffs.Janet Zitting’s video, in which she introduces some of her 44 siblings, is blowing up on the internet.
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