Woman Spent Over 800 Weeks Of Her Life Pregnant After Welcoming First Child At 14 And Her 22nd Child At 45

Jul 03, 2023

Britain's biggest family announced the birth of their 22nd child at Royal Lancaster Infirmary early in April 2020 in what the mother, then-45-year-old Sue Radford, said was her "strangest birth yet." The Radford family runs a bakery and lives in a 10-bedroom house in Morecambe, Lancs, in Northwestern England with their children.

They continue to update fans on their YouTube channel, which has become a huge internet sensation. The channel has over 361,000 subscribers, and its videos get anywhere from 50,000 to one million views. 

Families as large as the Radford family are unheard of in modern times. That is why the family is such a spectacle to the world — because of how rare their family dynamic is. Mother Sue and father Noel got married back in 1993 and have been creating their large family ever since. Interestingly enough, they were actually both adopted as babies. Even before Sue and Noel had married, they had already welcomed their first child together. 

In total, the Radford family has 23 people in it. This unheard-of number counts for the two parents and 21 children. The couple, mother Sue Radford and father Noel, 52, started having children early. According to The Sun, Sue was just 14 years old when she had her first child, Christopher, who is now 34 years old and has two children of his own. The Radford family's oldest daughter is in her late twenties, Sophie, who also has a family of her own with three children. 

With their eldest being over 30, the Radfords also have children that are still toddlers. The couple welcomed their newest bundle of joy back in 2020. 

The Radford family's latest addition, a little girl weighing in at 7 pounds, was born on April 3, 2020, after ten hours of labor, according to The Sun. The family took some time to settle on a name for their new child, which is understandable given that it's the Radfords’ 11th girl (that's a lot of names to come up with). But the family eventually decided to name their 22nd Heidie Rose. 

The baby joined Britain's biggest family, which includes siblings (from oldest to youngest) Chris, Sophie, Chloe, Jack, Daniel, Luke, Millie, Katie, James, Ellie, Aimee, Josh, Max, Tillie, Oscar, Casper, Hallie, Phoebe, Archie and Bonnie. According to The Sun, the couple’s 17th child, Alfie, was sadly stillborn in 2014.

Because of the family's incredible size, The Sun reported that the Radfords pay £250 a week ($311) for groceries, including three cereal boxes daily for breakfast and 18 pints of milk.

After Sue and Noel's ninth baby, Noel had a vasectomy, removing his ability to have more children. But after some deliberation, Noel had the procedure reversed — and now, 13 children later, they just keep on coming. Sue has spent more than 800 weeks, or around 15 years, of her life pregnant, according to The Sun.

When asked about their newborn daughter's birth, Sue said that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic had worried her, given that she wanted her husband to be by her side in the hospital.

"I was more scared than I had ever been going into hospital with everything going on with the virus," Sue said.

"I was so worried that Noel wouldn't be allowed to stay with me,” Sue added. “We have all been isolated and it seemed wrong to leave our safe bubble to go to a hospital. But when I got there I felt safe straight away. It was the strangest birth yet but by the end of it I would say it was actually one of the best experiences I have had."

According to The Sun, Sue added that their youngest child, the 22nd addition to Britain's biggest family, would be their last — though she's said that before. 

In April 2023, the family celebrated Heidie’s 3rd birthday with a heartfelt Instagram post. A few months later, in June 2023, the family uploaded photos to celebrate Hallie’s 8th birthday.

Sue told The Sun that two of her oldest children no longer live with the family. Chris and Sophie have flown the coop to live their own lives. With so many mouths to feed, the family is supported by Noel's entrepreneurship, The Radford Pie Company. 

The family has a popular YouTube channel. People from all over the world flood their channel to keep up with the family's adventures. One person commented, "What a lovely family you have. Your children are all adorable. You're so blessed. Be safe and have fun.”

The Radford family is also on Facebook and Instagram, where they post their daily lives and activities too. In a post about their show “22 Kids and Counting,” Noel and Sue shared their gratitude for fans of their family. They wrote:

“We just want to say a huge thank you for all the love and support you’ve shown throughout our series , we truly appreciate each and every comment snd message we’ve received so thank you 🙏 ❤️🥰”

Do you think the Radfords will welcome another child in their family later in life? Let us know, and pass this unique story on to friends and family members.