Join us as we count down to the end of 2023 by meeting some of the world’s largest families featured on My Extraordinary Family this year!
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00 Starting a family is a big decision for anyone but what happens when the family
00:05 keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger?
00:14 It is also a breeding ground for negative judgment from others and some
00:20 shocking comments online.
00:24 How did you choose a monster to be your child's father?
00:27 We start with Kimberly who is a mum of 10 and she's had three sets of natural twins.
00:33 We have 10 kids, 9 biological and we are fostering John's nephew.
00:51 What is it like living with so many siblings?
00:57 It's hard.
00:59 Look at this.
01:01 Livvy, you okay baby girl?
01:05 Change diapers, make the bottles, sit in front of the TV for a little while so we can get ourselves situated,
01:11 maybe take a shower for ourselves, go to the wild, have some coffee for her, some tea for me.
01:16 Try to get a little exercise in and do a little activity with the ones that are here.
01:22 Before you know it, the other ones come home from school, they need homework, they need baths, we got dinner.
01:27 It's a routine in place.
01:32 Do we follow it? Not all the time. It's a circus.
01:37 We're like a tag team. I take the AM shift, I tag her in, she comes in the afternoon and basically takes over after I get them out of school.
01:43 We're like a tag team. You got them now, then I got them and then we rotate and switch off until we get to dinner time and then we get them to bed.
01:49 Everything is in place.
01:51 I had all my kids natural, no epidural, anything.
01:55 The first set of twins caught us off guard. It was unexpected because we didn't have our lives together.
02:00 The second set of twins, we just bought the house and we were straight because it was a 5 bedroom, it was good, it was 5 kids, we were great.
02:09 The car we had at the time fit everybody. We were perfect.
02:14 I ended up pregnant. So we went to the doctor and the doctor said, "There's two."
02:22 I'm like, "John." And he was like, "Don't tell me."
02:26 I'm like, "Yeah, we did it again."
02:28 And then I give him the paperwork and he was like, "Are you kidding me? What are the odds of that?"
02:33 We had to buy a new car, we had to get more bunk beds, we had to expand.
02:37 We had to share some rooms a little more, it got a little tight.
02:39 We juggled some things and moved some things around.
02:43 The third set of twins, Kenzie and Kinsley, they started out as three.
02:48 They actually thought I was going to miscarry all three, but I only miscarried the one.
02:53 We're so thankful to have what we have.
02:56 Hi, Mom! Yay! You clap? Yes!
03:00 So a lot of people pass judgment on us or look down upon us because we have 10 children.
03:05 They say, "What a burden." We look at it as a blessing and we're so thankful and grateful for the blessing.
03:09 How long does it take for you guys usually to get out the door when you...
03:13 Shh! No. To get out the door is normally like an hour.
03:18 You know how to put your shoes on. I don't know how to put your shoes on.
03:23 Raise your head. I think we'll have fun together.
03:28 I can't find a hat.
03:31 Okay, come let me help you.
03:33 You want to sit on the couch with them? Zoe, no, no. Pick Zoe.
03:37 Okay, but listen. Listen, we're going to go outside. You guys are going to play, okay?
03:41 Listen, do not take your bikes and run it into the car.
03:45 Do not take them scooters and run them into the car.
03:48 We're not going up the hill.
03:50 [children shouting]
03:53 Short message to my haters. I would like to say thank you, actually,
03:58 because the hate made me stronger. It made me go harder and it made me better.
04:04 So, thank you.
04:06 There is never a dull moment in a home filled with children
04:09 and there is always somebody to play with.
04:12 The next household is made up of an extraordinary amount of children. Twelve.
04:18 She doesn't take well to strangers.
04:20 Strawberries! Look, yogurt. Yogurt. Tasty.
04:24 [baby crying]
04:27 So, we have twelve children. Twelve beautiful children, nine girls and three boys.
04:32 When you've got fourteen people that live under one roof, there's a lot going on.
04:36 [baby crying]
04:38 Oh my God, Phil.
04:40 [children shouting]
04:47 Looking after the children is a 50/50 split, really, isn't it?
04:50 Let's go in the bed.
04:52 Obviously, I'm at home with them when he's at work, so that's kind of falls to me more.
04:57 But then as soon as you walk through the door, you're hands-on immediately.
05:00 Right, are you doing the dishes here?
05:02 Yes.
05:03 So, you're doing the dishes.
05:05 Juice cups.
05:07 You're doing the juice cups.
05:10 Okay, so tidy up, please, and then we're going to have some lunch, okay?
05:15 Yes.
05:17 A week, food alone is probably about £200 a week.
05:21 So, we're coming into summer, and I've kind of budgeted right up until Christmas.
05:26 I'm talking about how much money we've got to spend for Christmas and things like that,
05:29 and he's like, "We haven't even had summer yet."
05:31 We struggle a little bit for space in this kitchen for food,
05:34 so this is kind of the kind of junk food cupboard/baking cupboard.
05:39 So, you've got, like, Pat Lunch stuff, biscuits, crackers, all that sort of stuff.
05:47 This is kind of like the snacky bits cupboard for snacks for school and stuff.
05:52 So, we've got cereals, and then there's backup cereals down there on that shelf.
05:57 So, there's more cereal.
05:58 So, normally I try and keep a box and a spare box.
06:02 Okay.
06:05 I'm always cleaning, always, always cleaning.
06:08 I don't think there's ever a day when I'm not cleaning something.
06:11 When we first had Lizzie, it was a bit of a shocked system, to be honest.
06:15 Neither of us really knew what we were doing.
06:18 I think it is for everybody when you first have a baby.
06:20 And then, obviously, we had Olivia.
06:22 It became more enjoyable, and then, obviously, we had the twins.
06:27 If you said to me back when we had Lizzie that we were going to have 12 children,
06:30 I probably would have said, "No, we're not."
06:32 But it's just kind of happened that way.
06:35 Have you ever thought about going, "No, that's not--I'm not having any more children"?
06:40 I've never kind of got to that point where I've gone, "Do you know what?
06:43 Actually, I don't think we'll have any more."
06:45 I think that part of me is broken.
06:47 Each pregnancy has been a really special time, not just for me, but for everybody.
06:51 Everybody gets involved in it, and it's just been a really, really special thing
06:54 to be able to bring another life into the world,
06:56 and especially with the younger ones now, the older ones get to experience that as well.
07:01 They get really excited as well, don't they?
07:02 Absolutely. Adore the baby ones.
07:04 I just--I love it so much.
07:07 Everybody used to say to us, "I'd love to be able to fly on the wall in your house.
07:10 I'd love to see what goes on in your house. I'd love to see your family."
07:12 And one day, we kind of thought, "Do you know what?
07:15 Why don't we share a little bit more of our family?"
07:17 We started with a Facebook page, didn't we?
07:21 And then that led on to naturally making short videos, and then it was YouTube.
07:26 We both said, "If we're going to do it, to be completely honest,
07:29 it's to not dress it up. It's not to paint a picture of us being wealthy or anything else."
07:34 The ups and downs, the good, the bad.
07:36 When we first started attracting negative comments, I used to get really upset.
07:40 They used to--it was like somebody personally attacking you.
07:43 I think it's the modern version of, "Did you see her down the road?"
07:48 You get a lot of, "Oh, the older kids must bring up the younger ones."
07:51 You get a lot of people saying that, and that's not the case at all.
07:55 Somebody's put, "Ben, do you ever get mistaken for the kid's granddad? LOL."
07:59 Sometimes it's more than negative. Sometimes it's nasty.
08:02 We'd gone out shopping, and we'd gone into a shop ahead of you,
08:05 and this woman had actually stopped Ben and said,
08:07 "You need to go and get yourself a job to support those kids."
08:10 She'd just made a snap decision judgment.
08:13 She said, "How do you expect us to support your children?"
08:16 And I was like, "Wow, I just got totally, totally judged on my appearance."
08:21 Yeah, and the fact that he wasn't at work on a work day.
08:24 Some people do judge us for having 12 children, but--
08:27 That's their opinion, isn't it?
08:28 It's, yeah, their opinion.
08:30 There's never been a point for me where I've gone, "That's enough.
08:33 We're getting there now. We're getting there."
08:35 And the judgment doesn't stop there.
08:37 Finally, we have Richard and Marita.
08:40 They don't let the negative comments about Richard's appearance
08:43 influence the love they have for their children.
08:46 So we have seven children. I have two boys from another relationship.
08:50 My wife Marita has three other children from a previous relationship,
08:53 and then we have twin boys together.
08:54 I have my children's names on my face.
08:56 My daughter's lips are on my forehead.
08:58 There you go. There you go.
09:01 Stand, baby, stand.
09:02 Got it?
09:03 Is there kids at school talking about it?
09:05 Whose dad is that? I say it's mine.
09:08 Yeah? Are you proud of it?
09:10 Yeah? All right.
09:13 And you, Amaya?
09:14 Yeah, I love it.
09:15 The kids at school say it?
09:16 Mm-hmm. They say it's scary, and I say, "No, my dad is not scary.
09:20 He has good tattoos because you got my kiss on your forehead."
09:24 Yes, I do.
09:25 And what are these?
09:27 My feet.
09:28 Your feet, huh? Yeah?
09:29 What impact does being a lady with tattoos have on your ability as a father?
09:36 My ability to be a father because of my tattoos has not stepped in my way.
09:40 I participate in the PTA. I go to all my kids' functions.
09:44 Jayden, go.
09:45 Junior.
09:46 Thank you.
09:48 I think the baby is scared.
09:50 What a scary dad.
09:52 I will cry if I had a dad like that.
09:55 You know, but there's so much negativity out there.
09:58 Instead of positive reactions to people, I just tell the people, you know,
10:02 this is what we did, and we're happy.
10:05 We've been married, you know, we've been together six years.
10:08 Our kids are happy, and to us, that's all that matters.
10:10 Go, go, go.
10:12 Run, run, run, run, run.
10:13 Yes, jump in.
10:14 We don't really care what anybody has to say about us, our kids,
10:17 or how we live our life together as a family.
10:22 I'm going to live my life until the day I pass away, you know,
10:25 and I'm going to live it to the fullest.
10:27 I hope for our family is for people to understand that I'm no different
10:31 than anybody else, that I love my children with all my heart,
10:34 and I love my wife, and that we just prosper.
10:37 There is just nothing like having a big family, and as you can see,
10:41 it isn't for the faint-hearted.
10:43 But despite the challenges, these parents wouldn't have it any other way.
10:48 [Music]
10:53 [Music]