Some people want a big family, while others choose to have a small one. Either way, for many, family and children are important for millions of families across the world. While in the past, it was the norm to have multiple children, this trend seems to have slowed down today. However, once in a while, stories of families with a large number of children make the rounds and show people the joys of having a large family.
Some famous families with an incredible number of children are the Radfords from England, the Bates family from Tennessee and the Duggar family from Arkansas.
One Scottish couple, Alexis and David Brett, are also a truly large family with 11 children! The couple had a baby daughter back in August of 2019, after which Alexis believed her family was finally complete. The little girl, named Cameron, is sure to be surrounded by love, as she is the only girl in a family of 10 boys. The Daily Mail reported that the family named her after the famous actress Cameron Diaz.
It isn’t easy to raise 11 children, but the Brett family had already had a lot of practice by the time their daughter was born. In 2019, the sons were aged between 2 years old and 17 years old, and all of them were delighted to add a little girl to their brood. A big family can be exciting and stressful all the same. Read on to know more about the Brett family and their newest addition to the family.
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The Daily Mail reported that Alexis was only 22 years old when she gave birth to her first son. Over the next 15 years, she and her husband continued to have 10 more sons: Campbell, 17, Harrison, 16, Corey, 14, Lachlan, 11, Brodie, 9, Brahn, 8, Hunter, 6, Mack, 5, Blake, 3, and Rothagaidh, 2. On Christmas Eve 2018, the then 37-year-old mom began to think that she might be pregnant once again. An at-home test revealed that she was expecting another child!
While Alexis was convinced that she would have another boy, she and David decided to go on and have a gender scan just to be sure. The results were mailed to Alexis, and she was hopeful in spite of her certainty that it would be a boy. “Curiosity did get the better of us,” Alexis said.
“When the results came in the post, Harrison opened the envelope because I was too nervous. When we realized it was a girl, we were amazed. It sounds silly because it’s a 50:50 chance, but we were surprised anyway.”
After Cameron was born on Aug. 27, 2019, Alexis told Daily Mail, “We’re over the moon. I’d been expecting to hear we were having another boy but when I found out it was a girl, my face was a picture. I was shocked but delighted. Now she’s here with us, it’s a fantastic feeling.”
Alexis also added, “We’re definitely stopping now, No more! I remember saying that last time, but this time I absolutely mean it. I love my family as it is now.”
While having such a large family can be wonderful, Alexis said that not everyone reacts positively. “Of course, we do get comments about the number of children we have. But it doesn’t bother me what people think. We’re well used to it. Some people think we must be on benefits, but we’re not. David has a good job which means we don’t even qualify for full child benefit,” Alexis explained.
Each week, the family spends over $400 on supplies, which “includes nine large boxes of cereal, 16 loaves of bread, 50 pints of milk, seven liters of fruit squash and 100 packets of crisps, 30 apples, 25 bananas, two kilograms of pasta and two tubes of toothpaste.” This does not include the cost of clothing for the kids. David has to make three separate trips to the grocery store every week.
The Daily Mail reported that even though David was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s six years ago, he is still a hands-on father and does his share of housekeeping after his flexible working hours. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. My medication helps with the symptoms, which are thankfully still minor,” he said.
The family has not been able to take a holiday together for years, according to David, but they have fun together nonetheless.
While the challenges of having such a massive family in a five-bedroom home are many, David and Alexis are happy to have 11 children. “David and I do look at each other sometimes to say ‘What have we done?’, but we could never imagine life with a small family now,” Alexis said.