Britain's Biggest Family : Mother Gives Birth to her 16th Child

AFRIK UPDATE

By Matt Blake

    Big family: (1) Chris, 23 (2) Sophie, 18 (3) Chloe, 17 (4) Jack, 15 (5) Daniel, 13 (6) Luke, 11 (7) Millie, 10 (8) Katie, 9 (9) James, 8 (10) Ellie, 7 (11) Aimee, 6 (12) Josh, 4 (13) Max, 3 (14) Tilly May, 2 (15) Oscar, 1 (16) Casper, 1 month

The 37-year-old supermum now has nine sons and seven daughters since welcoming little Casper into the world just over a month ago - in a labour that took just 16 minutes.

But incredibly, being Britain's biggest family alone is not enough for Sue, who told husband Noel as soon as she came home from hospital: 'I want another.'

                             

The couple, who together run a bakery in Morecambe, Lancashire, are completely self-sufficient and receive no state benefits.     
They live in a nine-bedroom former care home in the town which has an industrial-sized washing machine and a giant fridge to keep the mountains of food the family get through every day.

Food costs the couple £250 a week. Each day the family eats three loaves of bread, two boxes of cereal and 18 pints of milk while an average supper can include 16 pork chops, 15lbs of potatoes, three cabbages and 30 carrots.

                            

'I just love being a mummy. We are so lucky,' Sue told The Sun. 'I get very emotional when I see the children all together.

'I know people stare. Some think they won't get the attention they need, but people don't realise how dedicated we are... And maybe we'll be lucky enough to have more.'

The couple began their family unexpectedly early when they were teenagers and she was still at school. For other couples this might have spelled disaster, but not for the Radfords, whose eldest son Christopher is now 23.

Sue finished school and they married when she was 18, planning to have 'perhaps another one or two' children.

Once Sophie, 18, and Chloe, 17, had arrived, however, the couple discovered they were enjoying parenthood so much that they just kept going.

                   

It was after the arrival of Jack, 15, and while Mrs Radford was pregnant with Daniel, 13, that the couple found their current house  -  a nine-bedroom Victorian former old people's home that was in need of work.

And sure enough it wasn't long before with each new room they decorated, there were children to share it.

In quick succession they had Luke, 11, Millie, ten, Katie, nine, James, eight, Ellie, seven, and Aimee, six. 

Then, after a brief gap, came Josh, four, Max, three, and Tilly May, two, followed.

A year ago Sue gave birth to Oscar before Casper was born last month at a healthy 8lb and 8oz.

Mr Radford works hard running the bakery, which is just a short drive from home, while Mrs Radford helps out whenever she's not on maternity leave.

And their extended family just got bigger after Sophie gave birth to Sue and Noel's first grandchild Daisy.