Britain’s biggest family expecting baby number 21

The Radford family has earned the title of Britain’s biggest family thanks to their huge brood, and they announced their clan is set to grow again as they prepare to welcome their 21st child.

Sue and Noel Radford, from Morecambe, UK, have become regular features in the British press due to the sheer size of their household, and they have also starred in a number of TV documentaries following their day-to-day lives.

The most recent show starring the couple, 20 Kids and Counting, aired on Channel 4 in January this year and showed Sue, 43, and Noel, 47, welcoming their 11th son Archie, now eight-months-old, into the world.

Following the show’s debut Sue vowed that Archie would be their last child and she told The Sun that they would end on a “nice even number”. But it appears that the prolific parents had a change of heart as they are now expecting baby number 21.

They revealed the shocking news in their first vlog (video blog) post on their YouTube channel after hinting they had something big to share with their followers.

At the start of the video Sue says “we’re just on the way home from a very special, lovely appointment” before confirming that the family is getting ready to welcome another member.

The mum-of-20 then moves the camera down to show off her blooming baby bump before joining her family in the garden for a gender reveal where the couple fired confetti cannons into the air, which exploded in a shower of pink. 

Supporters of the family were quick to congratulate the couple too, with their post receiving more than 300 comments from well-wishers in just six hours.

One user wrote: “Congratulations you really are an amazing family. Hopefully all goes well and there will be another programme to watch because I have loved them all.”

Another said: “Love, Love, Love this family absolutely a loving family makes big family’s look good for once I have 6 and a step child and feel judged a lot and some opinions annoy me too but the radfords show the good in us.”

Sue and Noel who were both given up for adoption as children, welcomed their first child, Chris, back in 1989 when Sue was just 14-years-old and their household has continued to expand rapidly ever since.

The proud parents, who receive no state handouts except child benefits, tied the knot four years later, and soon welcomed daughter, Sophie. Third child Chloe then came along just over a year later.

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The latest addition will be the couple’s 10th daughter. She will be sister to Chris, 29, Sophie, 24, Chloe, 22, Jack, 21, Daniel, 19, Luke, 17, Millie, 16, Katie, 15, James, 14, Ellie, 13, Aimee, 12, Josh, 10, Max, nine, Tillie, eight, Oscar, six, Casper, five, Hallie, two, Phoebe, 22-months and Archie, eight-months.

Sue and Noel also tragically lost their 10th son, Alfie, who was stillborn in July 2014, after finding out the baby’s heartbeat had stopped at her 12-week scan. At the time the couple, who have previously described themselves as “addicted” to having children, said they were “utterly devastated beyond words”.

The parents-of-20 are also proud grandparents to daughter Sophie’s three children, Daisy, Ayprill and Leo, and run their own bakery business, The Radford’s Pie Company, which they have owned since 1999.

The Radford’s story is similar to that of American family The Duggar’s who also featured in a number of TV shows including 19 Kids and Counting and current TLC series Counting On.

Parents Jim Bob and Michelle, from Arkansas, have 19 children of their own and 10 grandchildren, with two more on the way later this year.

What do you think? Could you imagine having so many children under one roof?