“Reflecting on my childhood and the way my parents raised me, I can’t recall anything negative,” Erin Bates Pain (who joined the family on May 2, 1991) told People. “Everything, in hindsight, is really positive, and we created the best memories.”

Although they didn’t have a television, “we substituted that for playtime with dad,” she continued. “Or, you know, playing games as a family or making memories. So, I don’t feel like we missed out on anything and, in fact, I think we were smarter because of it.”

This meant that after she married Charles “Chad” Stephen Paine III in 2013, they were eager to have a large family of their own. A blood clotting disorder led to several miscarriages before they welcomed Carson in May 2015, Brooklyn in August 2016, Everly in May 2018, Holland in November 2019, and Finley in January 2022. Although she believed they wouldn’t be able to have more children, they went on to expand their family with William in October 2023 and Henry in August 2025. Chad shared on Instagram that Erin had gone into septic shock following Henry’s delivery. “We would greatly appreciate your prayers for Erin as she continues to recover from some complications.”

By October, she revealed she’d started to walk again, writing on Instagram, “They might be a little wobbly, but they are steps I wasn’t sure I’d ever take again.”