America’s most inbred family the Whittakers welcome new baby Braxton in latest YouTube video
- The most inbred family in America welcomed a new member to their ranks as the grandson of patriarch, Brandon, revealed he recently had a son
- The Whittakers first shot to the spotlight when filmmaker Mark Laita received permission to detail their bizarre life
The most inbred family in America has a new member in their ranks.
The Whittakers – who live in the village of Odd, 75 miles south of Charleston – have been known to bark at people, communicate through grunts and often run away when people tried to speak to them.
Producer Mark Laita has shone a spotlight on the family recently by releasing a short 12-minute film on his YouTube channel Soft White Underbelly, in a bid to report on untold stories from across the country.
In his latest video, Laita revealed that family patriarch, Larry, has a new great-grandson.
Brandon, 20, a mine maintenance worker, recently had a son, a blonde haired boy named Braxton. In the clip, Brandon confirms that he is already the father to a daughter who unnamed.
The most inbred family in America welcomed a new member to their ranks as the grandson of patriarch, Brandon, revealed he recently had a son
Baby Braxton being bounced on the knee of his great grandmother, Betty
The clip shows the baby smiling as great-grandmother Betty bounces him on her knee, both Betty and Larry smile throughout the video
https://youtube.com/watch?v=oQvVRV7g6vM%3Frel%3D0
‘Who’s the little baby?’ the interviewer asks while approaching the family on their wooden porch. Brandon explains that he drove with his brother to visit the family that day with the child.
The clip shows the baby smiling as great-grandmother Betty bounces him on her knee, both Betty and Larry smile throughout the video.
Later in the same video, members of the family go to the West Virginia State Fair, accompanied by Laita and his partner.
He has described the inbred family as like something out of the 1972 thriller, Deliverance.
In April last year he revisited the Whittaker family, who he first met in 2004 and filmed in 2020, and spoke about it on the channel.
The Whittakers are three siblings named Lorraine, Timmy, and Ray. Their parents were double first cousins, The Sun reported – first cousins, twice, because they share both sets of grandparents.
The genetic complications have caused a host of behavioral issues, Laita reported.
Laita was first acquainted with the West Virginia family in 2004 when he took pictures of them and he decided to return in 2020 to get to know them better.
There are only three members of the family who are able to communicate, Larry, Betty and Kenneth, a brother named Ray can communicate through grunting
The original video showing the Whittaker family garnered over 80 million views on YouTube
In an interview with Koncrete podcast, recorded before Christmas, Laita recalled the most bizarre moments with the family.
‘It was out of control,’ he said.
‘There’s these people walking around and their eyes are going in different directions and they are barking at us.
‘And [this] one guy, you’d look at him in the eye or say anything and he would just scream and go running away and his pants would fall around his ankles.’
Laita said the family have received a surge in interest since he first photographed and then filmed them. He said he needed a police escort to visit.
Laita recalled the building up of his relationship with the inbred family, particularly with family members named Ray, Betty, Kenneth, Ray, Timmy and Lorraine.
The first time he approached them was in the early 2000s when he was initially met by ‘protective’ neighbors with a shotgun.
‘They don’t like people coming to ridicule these people,’ Laita said on the podcast.
At the time, Laita wanted to take photos of the Whittakers for his book, ‘Created Equal.’ The book told stories of diverse cultures in the US.
While he wasn’t initially welcomed, he was eventually allowed to snap a few shots and even gifted some to the family.
One of the filmmaker’s latest videos from 2021 showed the family’s rundown conditions, with the group living in a small and overcrowded home with several animals.
The family lives in Odd, West Virginia in impoverished conditions. Several share a home with dogs and wear worn down clothing
Mark Laita has described the family as being like something from Deliverance
Laita said he returned to the home on a whim to see how the family was doing.
He then decided to pick up his iPhone and grab footage of their ‘level of poverty’ and living conditions.
The family appeared to spend a lot of time on their front porch where they have a couch, armchair and other household belongings.
One relative told Laita: ‘They understand what you talking about.
‘If they don’t like it, they start yelling – let you know they don’t like that idea.’
In one scene Laita asked Betty why she thought her family had so many abnormalities. She said she didn’t know.
He pushed the question further with Kenneth asking specifically about why their eyes weren’t facing forward. He responded: ‘Might be coal mining.’
Laita previously told podcaster Joe Rogan the inbred family line started with first cousins.
The videos of the Whittakers showed Laita asking them about their education and schooling. Only one appeared to have graduated high school, Timmy.
Lorraine and Ray appeared to not be able to talk and only grunt. Other family members had to talk on behalf of them.
According to Discover Magazine, inbreeding can lead to various side effects, including ‘decreased cognitive abilities and muscular function, reduced height and lung function, and are at greater risk from diseases in general.’
The family didn’t know their genetic issues occurred due inbreeding, according to what they told the filmmaker.
They also couldn’t remember much about their parents or other family members.
To help improve the Whittaker’s living conditions and provide home improvements, Laita previously created a GoFundMe in 2022 that has since raised $46,433.
Despite Laita’s fundraising, many people have found the film making to be exploitative.
West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country. The village of Odd where Laita went to document the family has just 800 residents.
Almost 17 percent of the 1.77 million residents in West Virginia live in poverty, according to the Census.
The U.S. average is 11.6 percent. Only Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico and Arkansas were worse.
Melody West and Shane Simmons, who run the Real Appalachia YouTube channel, said they had issues with the film.
They said that Laita ‘ostensibly is doing all this good work for them and raising money for them.’
But, they argue, the documentary ‘perpetuates the stereotype that has been around for decades’ relating to inbreeding in Appalachia.
‘I just feel like a lot more could be done for these people,’ said West.
‘I think he’s trying to act like he’s doing a lot for them.’
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