We couldn't stop at three: How a family with 22 children lives today

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Noelle and Sue Radford are the UK's largest couple with many children. The couple have 22 children! The future husband and wife met in an orphanage, where both were brought up. Since then, they have never parted. Sue gave birth to her first child at the age of 14. Young people decided not to abandon the child, because both grew up without a family. After they were officially married, the children began to appear one after the other. The couple say that 22 is a good number and it is worth staying at it. But who knows? How the largest British family lives, managing to do without benefits, loans and debts, further in the review.

And they lived happily ever after

Sue and Noel met in childhood. She was then 7 years old, and he was 12. Both biological parents refused at birth. The future spouses with many children were brought up and grew up in an orphanage. They became best friends and practically never parted with each other. When Sue was only 13 she got pregnant. Young people could not allow their blood to survive the same betrayal of the most dear people that they did. They decided to keep the child. In due time, the firstborn of the couple, Chris, was born.

Sue and Noelle got married as soon as the girl turned 18. Under the laws of England and Wales from 1885, girls are allowed to have sexual intercourse at the age of 16. Having a relationship with a girl under this age is considered a criminal offense. An exception is the case if the teenagers entered into a relationship by mutual agreement, as in the case of Sue and Noel. Then they are not subject to any legal prosecution.

For three decades of a happy marriage, the Redfords had 22 children - 12 girls and 10 boys. Not always everything was as good as we would like. In 2014, at the 23rd week of pregnancy, the boy, who had already been named Alfie by his parents, froze in the womb. Noel had done a vasectomy twice before, when the couple decided they didn't want more children. This happened after the seventh and after the twentieth child. But then both times I had to go through the reverse procedure, when parents with many children came to the conclusion that they wanted more.

Noel said in an interview that at first he and Sue wanted only three. Then they liked it so much that there were a lot of children around that they could not stop. Sue Radford was pregnant for a total of 811 weeks - that's nearly sixteen years!

Boys and girls, as well as their parents

Three years ago, the Radford couple had a daughter. They gave her the name Bonnie. Then the British press wrote a lot about this. The family was often shown on television. The couple even participated in a television show. This is not surprising, because Bonnie became their 21st child. The year before, the media also closely followed the birth of their twentieth son, Archie.

In her last pregnancy, Sue did not want doctors to tell her the gender of the baby in advance. The couple was confident that the baby would equalize the score between boys and girls in their family. “I think I will have 11 boys and 11 girls. It seems to me that now there is a boy,”the woman said. But in the end, a girl was born. I wonder if the parents will move on?

The oldest British boy is already 30. He lives separately from his parents. The second daughter, Sophie, is 26 years old, and she already has her own family, where two boys and a girl are growing up. Sophie is incredibly happy, but she says that three is enough for her. The girl sees how hard it is for her mother every day and she herself is not ready for such sacrifices. Now the Redford couple live in an old Victorian house with ten bedrooms. They bought this mansion in 2004.

Difficult life

The British blog on their YouTube channel, where they talk about family life and holidays, travel, budget recipes and even makeup secrets for girls. The spouses also talk about all the adventures and family news on their Instagram. Eight years ago, the Redfords took part in the TV show "16 Children - To Be Continued." There they amazed everyone with the story of their family. The children also made a great impression on the audience, showing all the signs of an excellent upbringing.

The Redfords have no social benefits, no benefits either. Only a fairly modest standard child benefit that the UK imposes on all children. Financially, the family relies heavily on income from Noel's bakery, which he owns. Two of the older children help their father in his business. Chloe bakes and comes up with new cake recipes, while Daniel takes orders and handles delivery.

By British standards, the family lives very modestly. For such a number of people, buying food, clothing, shoes is not an easy task. On average, the Redfords spend 310 pounds (almost 24 thousand rubles) per week. During the summer holidays, this amount rises to 435 pounds (almost 33, 5 thousand rubles). The spouses are economical. To feed so many mouths, you need almost ten liters of milk, three liters of juice, three boxes of porridge and pasta, several kilograms of meat.

For the holidays, the spouses have allocated a certain amount of funds for gifts in honor of birthdays. At Christmas, gifts cost about £ 100 (about 10,000 rubles) for everyone.

Every morning, my father gets up at 5 o'clock and goes to the family bakery. There he works for 11 hours. Noel returns around eight in the morning to help get the kids to school and kindergarten. All clothes for children are washed, ironed and laid out in places in the evening. Breakfast in the family takes place in two shifts.

Six children attend primary school 10 minutes' drive from the house. Five more are in high school. The father of the family delivers them all in a minibus. Since the transport is designed for nine or more passengers, it is allowed to drive on the lane allocated for buses, so you do not have to stand in traffic jams. The rest, the younger children, stay at home with their mother, only Oscar is already attending kindergarten.

The Redford family has 18 kilograms of laundry every day. It takes three dozen bottles of detergent a month. For delicate needs, the family spends 4 rolls of toilet paper a day.

Sue spends three hours cleaning the house every day. Evening hygiene procedures start at 6 pm. First they bathe the younger ones and put them to bed. Then the elders take turns bathing. All the children are in their beds by 9 a.m. Noelle goes to bed at 10 p.m. and Sue finishes household chores and goes to bed at 11.

Leisure difficulties of a large family

The Redford family rarely visits the cafe. Not only because of the expense that dinner for such a crowd requires. Often they simply cannot find a place, especially at lunchtime. Sometimes you have to wait more than an hour to free up a sufficient number of tables. “It's funny to see the faces of the workers and other guests as the family takes their seats in a crowd of 20,” says Sue. The rest of the entertainment is also expensive. A trip to a movie or an amusement park will cost several thousand pounds. Redfords use a variety of discounts and promotional codes that they find on the Internet.

The most wonderful pastime for a large family is walking in the park, family picnics. It costs practically nothing, but leaves the warmest memories and gives true happiness. To prepare a snack, you need several loaves of bread, three packs of sausages, a couple of dozen packs of cookies. If the weather outside is bad, the family stays at home. Everyone goes about their business: someone watches a movie, someone plays video games. Of course, it does not do without conflicts between children. This is fine.

Parents with many children face the greatest difficulties while traveling. After all, in such a crowd it is easy to lose someone. The Redfords try to travel somewhere every year. “You have to keep your ears open at all times. The elders always help to look after the little ones, and thank God, we have never lost any of our children. And the younger kids aren't used to hanging out on their own either,”says Sue. Usually the family travels on their 15-seat mini-bus.

Preparing for a trip with the Radford family is like planning a military operation. Sue has her own system. In addition to almost a dozen suitcases, she puts the belongings of younger children in large garbage bags and signs each one. Then you don't have to search through all the contents in search of the right thing.

Not without envious people

The Redford family is the largest in the UK. It is not surprising that for this reason the attention of the press is constantly riveted to them. On the British television channel Channel 4, the Radford couple even had their own reality show. When it just started, it was named after 16 children. In the winter of 2019, the last issue was released and it was already called "21 children, the countdown has started."

Large families are often criticized in the UK now. Most often due to child benefits. British taxpayers feel they are costing them too much. Several years ago there was even a proposal to pay the allowance only for the first three children. So far, nothing like this has happened.

Another issue that is actively discussed in society is the "selfishness" of such parents. People find it unacceptable that older children are forced to help with younger ones. Although, what is so terrible about the fact that children learn to take care of others, and not just about themselves?

A couple of years ago, a British blogger named Fiona Foodhouse wrote in a closed Facebook group that she lived near the Redfords. The woman began to assure the public that she regularly sees their children with a nanny. Mom Sue and her older daughters wrote to Fiona that this was not true and asked why she was lying. Foodhouse accused them of blackmail and harassment. The Redfords say that the blogger just wanted to promote this story to her YouTube channel.

Despite all the attacks and everyday difficulties, the Redford family radiates genuine happiness and love. The question remains open: to be continued? …

If you are interested in the topic, read in our other article about how to solve the problem of home schooling in a family with 10 children.