11/10/14

Amish Stud

    We went to the small town of Yoder, Kansas, an Amish town, and visited the Amish hardware store, the Amish furniture store … and so on.   
My friend said something that I found hard to believe and I told her that I was going to ask you about this and see what you said.
    My friend was told that a man claimed he is an “Amish stud,” i.e. he helps Amish women get pregnant because there is so much intermarrying (cousins and such) that there is a real problem with birth defects in the Amish community.
    Brenda, I found this so, so hard to believe — but I’ve been surprised by some of the things I’ve read in your blog. I still find it truly hard to believe that the Amish community would do this.
So, can you clear this up for me and my friend? Any truth to this statement?

Whoa! Glad she asked me in her search for truth. I emailed her my reply, then promised to take it a step further by asking some of my former Amish pals.

First, read my reply . . . 

As for the Amish 'stud' - I know of no such thing. Of course, there are truths to intermarriage & resulting birth defects. I posted about that topic in 2013. Our former-Amish "son," Mosie, has two cousins married to each other.

And you know there are many different Amish Orders—many of which are concerned about bringing in "fresh blood" but the way they handle that is to move the settlement to another state. Further, the Amish are so secretive about human sexuality, I doubt they'd ever consider or talk about such a "service" to women. (Tweet That)

I suppose there *could* be some little-known sect that might do this . . . still since I've not heard of them doing this as a way to help Amish women get pregnant, my conclusion is: he wishes he was. LOL

Second, in their own words, here are the replies of some of my former-Amish friends . . . 
·      it's really far fetched I think. there are enough amish not related that I would think they could move someplace else ..Otherwise I have never heard of such a goofy thing. I will bet some of the amish I know would get a very good laugh out of this. if they saw it.  Martha.
·       Ha ha. Yoder Kansas is named after my ancestors, not incestors.  Ed
·       Like the tourist in Lancaster County Pa stopped at a filling station and asked the attendant where he could find Amish. The attendant told him, you won't see any this time of the year. They are all inside as it's their breeding season and they won't come out.!!  John
·       oh for Pete's sakes...now I've heard it all! Some folks really DO believe anything! wonder if he charges for stud services or maybe the gals chust bake him a few pies.  Esther
·       lol i have been asked many times if this is true, who ever believes this, dos not no the Amish, talk about ppl believing trash, kinda like some believe those stupid shows that r on tv.  Ann
·       Brenda, I know of a lot of Amish who, after being tired of answering questions, throw out something crazy & untrue. Ppl tend to believe anything! There was something that was even published in a book when my Dat [dad] was young that was untrue due to the teens making it up. I had someone believe the Amish branded their firstborn. Yup, I have a small burn mark on my right forearm! Ok, so I ran into a hot cookie sheet as it was pulled from the oven. This lady, for a year, was always asking these outrageous questions about us Amish kids she worked with. One day after asking if Amish Women beat their stomachs to abort unwanted children, I turned to her & said "no they don't, they just brand their first born" SERIOUSLY!!  Edna
Edna's remark shows how frazzled some Amish are over fictional stories and rumors about them. (Tweet That)

Feel free to . . .
  1.  forward this post to your friends & family,
  2.  provide a link on your blog or website to www.BrendaNixonOnAmish.blogspot.com
  3.  tell program planners of my availability to speak on the Amish.
Your Turn: What would be your response to this question?
(C)Copyright, 2014, Brenda Nixon.

8 comments:

  1. You have got to be kidding. I have read more than 100 Amish Fiction books and nothing has ever been said about this. With as strong as the Amish are with their Faith, I can't believe they would commit Adultery just to have a baby.

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    1. That would be your response to this gal's question?

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    2. Most if not all of Amish Fiction is just fiction.

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    3. Fiction is by definition, false. Fake. It may have some basis in reality, but is by no means the truth or fact.

      I grew up Amish, and no, I never heard of any such stud service, but I have heard (and witnessed) plenty about Amish people abusing others, so their "faith" is not all you may read about in some book. Remember, those books are written for entertainment. Like a movie; they want you to part with your money. Just dont base all your believes on them, or some TV show.

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  2. While the story may be embellished, I can provide a first person account of such an offer (limited to only two young Amish women) that was declined. I will send an abbreviated version to Ms. Nixon by email and, if requested, I will provide additional data to support the veracity of the account.

    Several years after that incident my wife accepted a part-time position with the county health department performing well-child checkups and vaccinations to the large nearby Amish community. She also collected data on genetic disorders which have been published in medical journals. These data suggest that outside DNA has been introduced to the Amish population at a low, but detectable, rate.

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    1. Really? You can send me an account of such a "stud" offer? Use the right side of my blog (Got a question? Suggestion? Hit me up ...) to send me your information.
      And I believe you that outside DNA is introduced. It could be via: marrying an outsider who joined the Amish, a wayward daughter returning pregnant from an English man, child adoption, etc.

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  3. Well be very familiar with the Amish and being a medical person I will try to explain. There are more than 20,000 Amish today and they originated from 200 of the original settlers. The Amish do not go outside the Amish culture to recruit. Therefore their gene pool is getting smaller and smaller birth defects are popping up more and more they need to extend their gene pool. The Amish man will recruit someone that he trust and knows to impregnate his wife. They will pay you handsomely. The job is performed while the husband is in the room and any signs enjoyment and it is stopped immediately. So this is true it is not a fable.

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  4. In Iowa amish father's were paying outsiders to impregnate their daughter's. Im from Florida and was working there never have i seen amish communities.
    There were a few men from my work that ended up doing this. They get paid half them was she is pregnant they get the other half. They said something about bundling and couldn't touch them.

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