Janet Zitting was eight or ten years old when the first crack appeared in her reality. Chatting with a neighbor kid, she asked an innocent question: So how many moms do you have? The answer stunned her. One. Just one. Walking away, Zitting thought to herself, Wow, she only has one mom. That’s so sad.
For Zitting, now 32, that moment marked the beginning of a long journey from secrecy to viral fame. She grew up in a polygamous family, raised by her father and four mothers, including her biological one. She has 44 siblings. And yes, she remembers every single name.
Her family belonged to a group called The Work, an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints once led by Warren Jeffs. Polygamy is illegal in the United States but decriminalized in Utah. For Zitting, it was simply normal. Until it wasn’t.
I remember when I was a kid, it was very secretive, she says. So as an adult, it feels pretty freeing to talk about it.
Over 13 years ago, Zitting became one of the first of her siblings to leave The Work. About half have followed her. The others remain. She didn’t need to escape. She simply told her parents she was moving out. It was hard in the beginning, she recalls. Everyone’s so passionate about the religion, so they think you’re making a mistake. But I knew it wasn’t for me.
Now a mother herself, Zitting has found an unexpected platform on TikTok. Her videos answering questions about growing up with 44 siblings have gone viral. The reactions make her laugh. Some people say it’s AI. Some say there’s no way. But it’s just funny that my life, what is normal to me, can have such a big reaction.
The most common question: Can she really remember all those names? Yes. And their birthdays, too. The oldest sibling is 48. The youngest is 15. They have a sibling group chat, a sister group chat, and plenty of side chats. Growing up, there were cliques. Now that they’re adults, that’s changed. She hangs out with everyone.
Her family didn’t celebrate Christmas or birthdays. Her parents called birthdays worldly. Looking back, Zitting suspects it was more about finances than piety. Even now, her siblings only throw parties for milestone years like 30 or 40.
They lived on a small farm with livestock and a garden to cut grocery costs. Still, a single Costco trip around the holidays could hit $1,500. Privacy was scarce. She shared a room with seven sisters. At one point, during a house renovation, as many as 16 kids crammed into one bedroom. She would sneak off to a blankets closet just to take naps.
We just had to work together like a community, she says. People raising kids, cleaning, cooking, taking care of animals and the garden. It was constant, nonstop.
Today, Zitting hopes to have one or two more children of her own. She considers herself spiritual but not religious. I don’t plan on having a million kids, she says. I raised some of my younger siblings and nannied a lot. I feel like I already had kids of my own.
Despite leaving The Work, she holds no bitterness toward the siblings who stayed. A lot of them are truly my best friends, she says. I love how close we all are, especially my sisters. They’re loving, kind, beautiful inside and out. The religion was really controlling for me. It felt like I was in a box. I’m just happy I realized it’s not for me.
