Inside America’s Most Notorious Inbred Family and Their Troubled History

The Whittaker Family’s Complex Legacy

The Whit­tak­ers are one of the most well-known fam­i­lies in Amer­i­ca, pri­mar­i­ly due to their com­pli­cat­ed and trag­ic his­to­ry of inbreed­ing.

https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-1106314038950119&output=html&h=390&slotname=3017914497&adk=3132749184&adf=1692655843&pi=t.ma~as.3017914497&w=390&abgtt=6&lmt=1750276898&rafmt=1&format=390x390&url=https%3A%2F%2Fviral.fibromialgia247.com%2Fvf13-inside-americas-most-notorious-inbred-family-and-their-troubled-history%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR442uvULrQeMeAC2ZHojK1Cq4IS4vrpr8I5AGJkQV7rzpnTy5cnNkpJTI6H9g_aem_BJ322RnCYAUU0rlxvy9wRg&fwr=1&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&dt=1750276898611&bpp=1&bdt=538&idt=147&shv=r20250617&mjsv=m202506120101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie_enabled=1&eoidce=1&prev_fmts=0x0%2C390x390%2C390x390&nras=1&correlator=4957974168505&frm=20&pv=1&u_tz=120&u_his=1&u_h=844&u_w=390&u_ah=844&u_aw=390&u_cd=24&u_sd=3&adx=0&ady=1329&biw=390&bih=655&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=31092114%2C95360549%2C95353386%2C95362656%2C95364339%2C95344791%2C95359265%2C95364334&oid=2&pvsid=8765844593624773&tmod=41858429&uas=1&nvt=1&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C390%2C0%2C390%2C655%2C390%2C655&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&pgls=CAEaBTYuNi4y&ifi=4&uci=a!4&btvi=1&fsb=1&dtd=148

The family’s sto­ry first gained atten­tion when film­mak­er Mark Lai­ta doc­u­ment­ed their lives for his book Cre­at­ed Equal.

https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-1106314038950119&output=html&h=390&slotname=1304630460&adk=3230010846&adf=2062247991&pi=t.ma~as.1304630460&w=390&abgtt=6&lmt=1750276898&rafmt=1&armr=1&format=390x390&url=https%3A%2F%2Fviral.fibromialgia247.com%2Fvf13-inside-americas-most-notorious-inbred-family-and-their-troubled-history%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR442uvULrQeMeAC2ZHojK1Cq4IS4vrpr8I5AGJkQV7rzpnTy5cnNkpJTI6H9g_aem_BJ322RnCYAUU0rlxvy9wRg&fwr=1&rs=1&rh=250&rw=300&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&dt=1750276898611&bpp=1&bdt=538&idt=149&shv=r20250617&mjsv=m202506120101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie_enabled=1&eoidce=1&prev_fmts=0x0%2C390x390%2C390x390%2C390x390&nras=1&correlator=4957974168505&frm=20&pv=1&u_tz=120&u_his=1&u_h=844&u_w=390&u_ah=844&u_aw=390&u_cd=24&u_sd=3&adx=0&ady=1836&biw=390&bih=655&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=31092114%2C95360549%2C95353386%2C95362656%2C95364339%2C95344791%2C95359265%2C95364334&oid=2&pvsid=8765844593624773&tmod=41858429&uas=1&nvt=1&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C390%2C0%2C390%2C655%2C390%2C655&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&pgls=CAEaBTYuNi4y&ifi=5&uci=a!5&btvi=2&fsb=1&dtd=150

Lai­ta has since shared sev­er­al glimpses into the family’s world on his YouTube chan­nel, Soft White Under­bel­ly, but his jour­ney with them has been far from smooth.

https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-1106314038950119&output=html&h=390&slotname=3017914497&adk=3132749184&adf=1825615374&pi=t.ma~as.3017914497&w=390&abgtt=6&lmt=1750276898&rafmt=1&format=390x390&url=https%3A%2F%2Fviral.fibromialgia247.com%2Fvf13-inside-americas-most-notorious-inbred-family-and-their-troubled-history%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR442uvULrQeMeAC2ZHojK1Cq4IS4vrpr8I5AGJkQV7rzpnTy5cnNkpJTI6H9g_aem_BJ322RnCYAUU0rlxvy9wRg&fwr=1&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&dt=1750276898612&bpp=1&bdt=539&idt=151&shv=r20250617&mjsv=m202506120101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie_enabled=1&eoidce=1&prev_fmts=0x0%2C390x390%2C390x390%2C390x390%2C390x390&nras=1&correlator=4957974168505&frm=20&pv=1&u_tz=120&u_his=1&u_h=844&u_w=390&u_ah=844&u_aw=390&u_cd=24&u_sd=3&adx=0&ady=2374&biw=390&bih=655&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=31092114%2C95360549%2C95353386%2C95362656%2C95364339%2C95344791%2C95359265%2C95364334&oid=2&pvsid=8765844593624773&tmod=41858429&uas=1&nvt=1&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C390%2C0%2C390%2C655%2C390%2C655&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&pgls=CAEaBTYuNi4y&ifi=6&uci=a!6&btvi=3&fsb=1&dtd=152

A Filmmaker’s Effort to Help the Whittaker Family

Laita’s rela­tion­ship with the Whit­tak­ers start­ed with the intent to high­light their strug­gles and raise aware­ness. Over the years, he has tried to assist the fam­i­ly, launch­ing two GoFundMe cam­paigns to improve their liv­ing con­di­tions. How­ev­er, these efforts were marred by a series of unex­pect­ed twists.

Laita’s rela­tion­ship with the fam­i­ly took a turn when YouTu­ber Tyler Oliveira inter­viewed the Whit­tak­ers, dur­ing which Bet­ty Whit­tak­er claimed she didn’t know what had hap­pened to the funds raised for the fam­i­ly.Lai­ta respond­ed to these remarks in a video on his own chan­nel, express­ing sur­prise at her confusion.He showed bank state­ments as evi­dence that the fam­i­ly had fre­quent­ly asked for mon­ey, but there was uncer­tainy about how it had been spent.

The Unfolding Drama and Deception

The sit­u­a­tion esca­lat­ed when it was false­ly report­ed that a fam­i­ly mem­ber, Lar­ry Whit­tak­er, had passed away. Before ver­i­fy­ing the infor­ma­tion, Lai­ta had giv­en $1,000 to Larry’s daugh­ter to help with funer­al costs.

It was lat­er revealed that Lar­ry was alive, and the daugh­ter had fab­ri­cat­ed the sto­ry.

In a video address­ing the hoax, Larry’s daugh­ter admit­ted to her actions, stat­ing, “I’m not proud of what I’ve done. I shouldn’t have done it.” Despite this apol­o­gy, Lai­ta would find him­self deceived once again.

Lar­ry lat­er asked for more finan­cial help to relo­cate his daugh­ter, but it was dis­cov­ered that Lar­ry had kept the mon­ey him­self

Though Lai­ta was under­stand­ably frus­trat­ed, he chose to give the fam­i­ly anoth­er chance. In his lat­est update, titled Thick­er Than Water, Lai­ta met with Lar­ry, who apol­o­gized for his actions.

The film­mak­er, show­ing under­stand­ing and com­pas­sion, respond­ed with, “I’m very good at for­giv­ing and under­stand­ing. I’ve missed you guys, I think a lot of my view­ers have missed you guys too.”

A New Fundraiser and a Family’s Struggles

Lai­ta decid­ed to launch anoth­er fundrais­er for the Whit­tak­ers, focus­ing on pro­vid­ing for their liv­ing expens­es and main­tain­ing their home.

Amid their increas­ing vis­i­bil­i­ty and atten­tion, many have begun to won­der how the family’s his­to­ry of inbreed­ing began and what led to their unique sit­u­a­tion.

The Origins of the Whittaker Family’s Inbreeding

Accord­ing to reports from the Dai­ly Mail, Henry’s son John and his twin’s daugh­ter Gra­cie are believed to have had 15 chil­dren togeth­er: Aileen, Emory, Bar­bra, Nan­nie Lou, Con­nie Jean, Fred­dy, Lorene Sue, Mary Madeleine, John, Bet­ty Ann, Dan­ny Ray, Lar­ry Eugene, Ken­neth Waye, Judy Kay, and Michael Steven.

While details about some of the chil­dren are scarce, Bet­ty Whit­tak­er is now con­sid­ered the head of the fam­i­ly.

In an inter­view with Soft White Under­bel­ly, Bet­ty revealed that she had promised her moth­er she wouldn’t mar­ry and instead would take care of her sib­lings.

The Family’s Isolation and Protection

The Whit­tak­ers live in a remote area, and their neigh­bors are known to pro­tect their pri­va­cy fierce­ly, often dis­cour­ag­ing strangers from approach­ing the fam­i­ly. Despite their dif­fi­cult cir­cum­stances, the Whit­tak­ers con­tin­ue to live on their prop­er­ty, main­tain­ing a lifestyle that is large­ly unknown to out­siders.

Conclusion: A Complicated History and a Hopeful Future?

The Whit­tak­er family’s sto­ry is one of com­plex­i­ty, hard­ship, and at times, decep­tion. While the family’s past is marred by inbreed­ing and finan­cial strug­gles, their rela­tion­ship with film­mak­er Mark Lai­ta high­lights both the chal­lenges and poten­tial for change.

Despite the set­backs, Laita’s ongo­ing sup­port shows a will­ing­ness to help, prov­ing that even the most dif­fi­cult sit­u­a­tions can offer oppor­tu­ni­ties for growth and heal­ing.

As the Whit­tak­ers con­tin­ue to receive atten­tion, ques­tions about their his­to­ry and the impact of their upbring­ing remain.

How­ev­er, the family’s sto­ry also serves as a reminder that com­pas­sion and under­stand­ing can go a long way in trans­form­ing lives, even when the road to recov­ery is not always straight­for­ward