Woman is Pregnant with 22nd Child Doctors Get Worried About Her Health

Sue Radford was only 14 years old when she welcomed her first child, yet the woman didn’t stop there and gave birth to 21 kids in total. But why did she and her husband decide to have such a big family, and how do they manage to support each of their children? It’s time to tell their incredible story and reveal one more surprise that’s right on its way. We hope you’re good with names, as this family is a real community.

First, we’ve got Noel and Sue, the happy parents, ages 49 and 44 respectively. So we’ve got Chris, Sophie, Chloe, Jack, Daniel, Luke, Millie, Katie, James, Ellie, Amy, Josh, Max, Tilly, Oscar, Casper, Hallie, Phoebe, Archie, Bonnie, and Alfie, who was our little angel. It should be mentioned that in 2014, Sue gave birth to Alfie, who was stillborn. To respect the boy, the couple always say they have 21 kids and not 20. But what inspired them to create such a huge family? What’s more, they have one more kid on their way, but will this finally be their last one?

Noel told The Sun: “Sort of thought we would have three, maybe for a push, and then um that kind of went out the window, didn’t it? Yeah, we just loved it that much that, no, we carried on.”

After giving birth to their 20th child, the delighted parents stated: “This little one will definitely be our last, although I did say that with Hallie. But we said that a long time ago, we did. So who knows, I’m kind of sort of, you know what, what’ll be will be and we’ll just have to see. Can’t you, you can’t finish on 19. You can’t finish on an odd number.”

The giant family happily lives in Morecambe, a seaside town in northwestern England.

We met, um, Noel used to live in the cul-de-sac next to me where we lived, and he used to hang around with my brother when we were younger, and we met through my brother.

Even though they were really young, the two felt a special connection that turned into chemistry which was strong enough to spark a romance that’s lasted over 40 years.

You might think that Sue got pregnant too early, first baby very, very young?

“Yeah, we had Chris when I was 14.”

“Right, okay. So I mean that must have been quite controversial at the time, I would have thought?”

“Yeah, I guess it was, yeah. It still wasn’t really uncommon.”

Since their relationship started at a very young age, their lives together were taken to the next stage rather quickly. So when Noel was 18 and Sue was just 14, the girl became pregnant with her first kid. Of course, Sue was baffled when she found out she was carrying a baby; there are so many things you aren’t allowed to legally do, let alone giving birth to a child when you were a child as well. However, the couple came up with a decision to keep the baby after all. They both knew how it feels being brought up in an adoptive family and wanted their baby to have birth parents near them. Their emotional story hid both of them close to home. This fact of their life histories meant they felt a strong wish to hold on to the baby they had.

However, the couple wasn’t allowed to get married in the United Kingdom, as in many other countries the law forbids teenagers under 16 to get married without a parental agreement, and in some places you have to wait until you’re 18. So Noel and Sue had to wait four years after their lives changed forever and they met their first child. The happy couple finally exchanged vows on September 26, 1991. At that moment, Sue was 18 and Noel was 22.

It looked like the couple was ready to settle in and bring up their kid, yet their life took a drastic turn; it wasn’t long before they were expecting Sophie, their second child. Once the young couple was finally a family, they felt that nothing could place limits on them, and they just kept welcoming their kids one after the other.

But there’s one question that might pop into your head: Is it actually a good idea to bear children despite having such a short period between each birth? According to a medical journal called JAMA Internal Medicine, kids born by women aged 20 to 34 within a year of a previous birth have an 8.5 percent chance of being premature. Other studies have shown that the safest minimum interval between giving birth is 18 months. It means that the best way for moms would be to wait at least a year and a half between pregnancies. When it comes to Sue, her kids were born within less than a year of each other, which drew the attention of medical professionals: Is it safe for women to give birth to so many babies in a row?

At the same time, Sue is within her right to make her own choices with her life and body. Perhaps she had a gut feeling deep down and was sure she could handle it all. It looks like the Radfords deeply loved their kids, and the reason for having so many of them is that the couple wanted to be surrounded by as much family as possible, knowing deep down everything would be okay.

On November 6, 2018, 43-year-old Sue welcomed their 21st child, Bonnie Ray. The couple explained her middle name is because she’s a ray of sunshine. What’s even more impressive is that Sue’s labor lasted only for 12 minutes, and it’s pretty understandable—if anyone had such a vast experience in birthing as she had, the process would surely take far less time than usual.

Sue told The Sun: “It’s such a lovely moment when you bring a newborn home and the others are all lined up and ready to hold her.”

Yet soon the couple would announce something that would make everyone upset. After having Bonnie, Noel and Sue told everyone that they were done having kids for good. However, they used to say it every time after welcoming one more baby to their big family. Noel supported his wife: “Some people decide to stop after two or three kids. We made it after 21.”

But their kids didn’t seem to buy their declarations and believe in what their parents were saying. Perhaps there was a solid reason for that; for example, millions of times Noel and Sue made a mold-breaking decision and then took it right back. However, when Bonnie, the 21st child, was born, Sue decided to act differently to ensure everyone knows she was determined to have no more kids after her last due date. The nurses at the hospital jokingly asked her if they should wait for her the following year, and the woman’s response was: “Definitely not.”

Sue also planned to throw all the sentimental items, such as her maternity clothes, the crib, and the baby bottles, away.

“It’s all those milestones that’ll hit us,” she said nostalgically.

Her kids had a gut feeling that their mother wouldn’t walk the talk. The third-born, Chloe, supposed they might not plan on having another, but it could still happen. The Radford children believed they knew their parents better than their parents themselves; they couldn’t even suppose this time would be different. Maybe Noel and Sue didn’t want to have more kids because they started actually having grandkids at that point. The couple had five sweet grandchildren they loved as much as their own kids. Their eldest son, Chris, had two little ones, Maisie and Jacob, while their second-born child, Sophie, had three named Daisy, April, and Leo.

However, the Radford kids were right. Noel and Sue uploaded a YouTube video telling the world that they were expecting their 22nd child. In the video, Sue excitedly said: “Today we are going to go and see our new little baby. We are 12 weeks—well, we are, I am 12 weeks pregnant, so we’re gonna go and have a little peek at the new little Radford.”

They were so happy in that video that it was apparent the couple loved their kids more than anything else on this planet. The due date for baby Radford is in April of 2020, but unfortunately not everything seemed as amazing as the couple wished it to be. There were actually some complications with Sue’s pregnancy; the doctors started worrying the baby wasn’t growing quickly enough. You see, no matter how many kids you have, every life is precious, and it was definitely a challenging period for the parents to go through. But luckily in a few months, the baby let her mother breathe out. Sue enthusiastically described the baby’s rapid movement and growth. If everything goes well, the couple will meet their 22nd child, but how are they going to handle it?

One of the burning questions is how they can support all their kids financially. It’s interesting that Sue and Noel’s typical day with such a large clan starts at 6:30 AM. They have to buy 18 pints of milk, 3 liters of juice, and 3 cereal boxes to prepare breakfast every morning. Then they have to send their children on buses to three different schools and one kindergarten. After that, they have to wash, cook, and clean, after all 20 of their kids—keep in mind that three of them are less than four years old. But in addition to all the work they have to do every single day, the parents have to spend a lot of money on other things. For instance, when they go out for dinner, they have to pay at least $190. Visiting a cinema can run a price tag of around $130.

In one of her interviews, Sue said: “We do like to go to the cinema, especially in the holidays when the kids are a bit bored, but it can be up to $13 per person, so it can work out really expensive.”

One of the family’s favorite activities, trampolining, cost them around $300. To cope with all the expenses, Sue explained: “We often look for the different discount codes you can find on the internet and go with whatever offers they’ve got on.”

Can the discount codes always work as a way out? Where do they take money from? Let’s be honest, a good life is expensive, and when you have to pay the $325 a week in groceries, utility bills, and everything else mentioned above, a good life is more than just expensive.

Well, you see, most of the Radfords’ income comes from their long-time pie business, Radford’s Pie Company. Noel knows how to bake a drool-inducing pie as he has been doing for almost 25 years, and it seems he’s earned an excellent reputation. There’s also the television documentary that they’ve appeared on from time to time, which undoubtedly brings them much-needed extra money. Plus, they reportedly receive $225 a week in child benefits from the government, and their home is their biggest asset.

The Radford family home in Morecambe is a 10-bedroom house that they purchased for roughly $312,000 in 2004. It’s certainly big enough to hold their community, and now just imagine how messy the place packed with 22 kids can be. Sue confirmed it on Instagram: “With so many people living in this house, things get messy very quickly.”

Their laundry machine works non-stop and the cleaning process never ends, yet they have a giant army to help with the chores. When it comes to the Radfords, for them it’s just fun.

“Having so many sisters and brothers feels like an endless summer camp,” Noel said about his family. “There’s never a dull moment. It’s a happy house full of laughter, and we just love being surrounded by all our children.”

The kids love being a part of a big family too. From the outside looking in, it can be easy to talk about all the challenges this family may face, however when you hear them talk about one another in such a loving way, you realize they’ll handle everything. The Radfords don’t find that having so many kids is a problem at all. But what’s other people’s opinion about them? You see, many people all around the world truly respect the Radfords and are happy for them.

One commenter on The Sun’s website wrote about the Radfords: “Hats off to them. I’ve always found them inspiring. They can have that many children and financially support themselves.”

They added: “This just goes to show that anything is possible. No excuses whatsoever. Fair play to them.”

A lot of other commenters share this opinion and are moved by the Radford family’s love for one another. As this peculiar family grew bigger, they were eventually recognized as Britain’s largest family. On Instagram, the Radfords’ page currently has 212,000 followers, while the third-born daughter, Chloe, has a personal fanbase of 24,000. They became celebrities in an absolutely unique way, with no red carpets or Oscars, but with deep love and support from each other and thousands of people following them. It’s the type of adoration that regular citizens can truly relate to. The Radfords are a fantastic example that family is the most important thing in the entire world.

You don’t, you don’t even look back and just think, oh, we should just have three or four, or you know, or even 10, um, but no, just absolutely love everything about having so many kids.