Dad of UK’s largest family with 22 kids defends getting his wife pregnant when she was 13

The father of the UK's largest family has defended the age he and his wife were when they had their first of 22 children.

The Radfords are Britain's biggest family as mum Sue and dad Noel have had 22 kids and been married for more than 30 years.

Appearing on reality TV to let the cameras into their family house, which used to be a care home, they were the stars of 22 Kids & Counting.

When they first appeared on the reality show in 2012 it was called 15 Kids and Counting, with the family welcoming many more family members since then and baby number 22 joining the merry brood back in 2020.

Sue and Noel have today (29 February) released a book titled The Radfords: Making Life Count, and in it Noel has addressed comments about the ages they were when they had their first child.

Channel 4

Sue was pregnant at age 13, and Noel was 17 years old when he learned he was going to become a father, with them receiving some criticism for this when it came up in one of their reality shows.

Noel wrote in the book that they 'were both just kids'.

"People have inevitably talked about the situation and it has been written about in the newspapers and discussed on social media," he wrote in Making Life Count.

"There has been a lot of focus on it and, in a way, it was probably worse for us than when it actually happened. So many people have given their opinions.

"But we were both kids it was not as if I was 10 or 15 years older than Sue.

Instagram/@theradfordfamily

"For a lot of people, though, things are just black and white and you are tarnished with the same brush as other people in totally different situations.

"We were young and we were daft. But we wanted to continue as a couple."

He went on to say that he didn't end up in official trouble over it, as it was 'down to your mums and dads'.

The father-of-22 said there was 'no knock on the door saying I was in big trouble' and that while he thinks their doctor would have had to report it there were 'no repercussions'.

Elsewhere in the book, the couple revealed that they met as Noel was friends with Sue's older brother, and wanted to raise their child together as they had both been adopted themselves, and obviously they've stayed together to have 21 more children.

Topics: UK News, Parenting

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker