They already have 16 children and a granddaughter but the parents of Britain’s biggest family say they still haven’t ruled out extending their brood even further.
Sue and Noel Radford appeared on today’s This Morning with 15 of their offspring (just their eldest son was missing as he was at work) to promote a documentary on their family which will be shown on Channel 4 this evening. As the title of their show is ’16 Kids and Counting’, presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford asked if they did indeed intend to have more children.
‘Everybody keeps asking but who knows, there might be more,’ Sue, 37, replied.
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Britain’s biggest family: Parents Noel and Sue appeared on This Morning with 15 of their 16 children and their baby granddaughter
The couple revealed they met as teenagers and always wanted a big family.
‘We thought we’d have three maybe four but once Jack came along, he’s our fourth, we thought we love this so much that we got pregnant with Daniel,’ Sue explained.
Following the birth of Casper, three months, last year, they now have nine sons and seven daughters: Chris, 23, Sophie, 18, Chloe, 17, Jack, 15, Daniel, 13, Luke, 11, Millie, 10, Katie, 9, James, 8, Ellie, 7, Aimee, 6, Josh, 4, Max, 3, Tilly May, 2, Oscar, 1, and baby Casper.
They also now have a granddaughter, Daisy, after Sophie followed in her mother’s footsteps by becoming a young parent.
Still time for more: The parents told Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes they haven’t ruled out more children yet
Despite being pregnant almost continuously for more than a decade, their massive weekly food bill and the hours Noel, 42, works to support them as a baker (they do not rely on state benefits), Sue said they wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘We just love everything about having a big family,’ she said. ‘We work really hard for what we have which we’re proud of.’
Eamonn was keen to point out to viewers of the ITV show that the family do not receive any handouts other than their entitlement to child benefits.
Instead they get by running their own business – a bakery in Morecambe, Lancashire – and they live in a ten-bedroom home they converted from a care home in the town.
Super mum: Sue, with her youngest, baby Casper, said she loves having a big family despite stressful supermarket shops
Self-sufficient: The family reply on father Noel who runs a business as a baker
Sue explained what a normal day is like as a mother of 16. ‘It’s full on, all day every day. We get up about 6.45am which isn’t too early. Then it’s a case of going around ten bedrooms and getting everyone up. I pretty much do all the cooking and cleaning but Noel helps out when he gets back from work.’
The super mum added that their biggest ordeal is the supermarket shop – which they now do every day as in a typical week they get through 14 boxes of cereal, 20 loaves of bread and 120 pints of milk – at a cost of around £250.
‘We used to do a big shop at the weekend but it got too much so now we go every day. We were having to go back every day to get little bits and bobs anyway,’ she said.
To see more of the Radford’s story, watch 16 Kids and Counting on Channel 4 at 9pm this evening
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