Mum-of-22 Sue Radford opens up on being “motivated by love” and adding to her family with husband Noel
SUSAN LEE
While Sue Radford could be forgiven for wanting to put her feet up once her kids are all off her hands, the mother of the UK’s largest family has other ideas.
Sue, who became a parent when she was just a teenager, has revealed she would actually love to extend her brood and adopt.
“We adore being surrounded by kids, so I’d love to adopt or foster. We’re not having any more of our own, so it’s definitely something we’d think about when ours are older.”
With her older children starting to move out, Sue admits the family dynamic is changing.
“I dread the thought of an empty nest but know it will happen one day,” she says.
Her love story with husband Noel began 35 years ago, when they met as teenagers in Kendal in the Lake District. They married in 1992, when Sue was 17, and they were already parents to Chris, now 34.
“We’re proud to be Britain’s biggest family, but we’d only planned on three,” admits Sue.
“We’re addicted to children, but as addictions go, it’s not a bad one because it’s motivated by love. We have plenty to go round.”
As well as Chris, the couple share Sophie, 30, Chloe, 28, Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 23, Millie, 22, Katie, 21, James, 20, Ellie, 18, Aimee, 17, Josh, 16, Max, 15, Tillie, 13, Oscar, 12, Casper, 11, Hallie, eight, Phoebe, seven, Archie, six, Bonnie, five, and Heidie, three.
They also lost a son, Alfie, who was stillborn in 2014.
Sue, 48, who is a grandma of 10, reveals, unsurprisingly, that with so many children, it hasn’t all been plain sailing, and there have been times when their marriage has been tested to its limits.
Back in 2000, the pair expanded their already successful bakery business into new premises. But when hand, foot and mouth disease hit the UK, the tourist trade plummeted and the venture failed.
Sue admits they were faced with ‘‘losing everything”.
“We almost went bankrupt and thought we would lose the house. I just kept thinking, ‘There’s no way out of this, and I really don’t see how our marriage can survive,” she says.
“The whole thing took its toll on me and Noel. Looking back, I can see that we would never, ever, have called it a day, but when you’re in that highly pressurised moment it’s hard to see a way out.
“There were days when
