The Duggars get all the attention for the tiny nation-state of 17 (and a half) kids the couple has managed to stuff into their RV and oversized Arkansas home. But they aren't the only supersized American family around. 

Duggars, meet the McDonnells -- all 16 of them, plus Mr. and Mrs.

Only 16, you say? Hardly competitive (and it IS a competition). But by my calculations, the McDonnells win, so far.

Like the Duggars, none of the McDonnell kids are adopted or stepchildren. Unlike they Duggars, they're all singletons. The Duggars have two sets of twins (cheaters!).

The McDonnell kids ages range from 29 to 3. Jeri, the mom, started having babies at 16. She popped more and more out on a fairly annual basis until Meghan, now 15, was born. For the next five years, she worked her way through college and was just getting ready to take medical school entrance exams when she learned she was pregnant with Keith, now 9. She and her husband didn't want Keith to be alone (?!!!!), then came the next four.

They've grown weary of the comments -- yes, they know how babies are made, no, they've never been on public assistance. She manages a chain restaurant in the Kansas City-area and he's a manager at a huge discount furniture store, all the kids must attend some college, if they want cars, they get jobs and pay for them. And they have no religious reasons to not use birth control. Turns out, they just reeeeeeeally like kids.

But little Paityn is the end of the line for this family. Jeri McDonnell's uterine wall had grown thin during the last birth and began hemorrhaging. Her doctor performed an emergency hysterectomy.

Some notables on this family, in comparison with their more famous counterparts: these kids wear mainstream clothes and,best of all, the McDonnells have embraced the alphabet, the entire thing! The kids' names begin in a refreshing variety of letters.

 Photo: KCStar.com