The 18-year-old was worried about her parents' reaction but they have been very supportive and excited for her.
Britain's biggest family, the Radfords, is all set to welcome another child in their midst but this time the mother is not going to be Sue Radford, the matriarch of the brood. Sue's daughter Millie, who is her seventh child, is going to be a mom for the first time at the age of 18. Sue had her first child, Chris (now 31) when she was just 13. Chris is a father of two now. Sue welcomed her 22nd child on April 3 during the lockdown.
18-year-old Millie, who lives with her family in their 10-bedroom home, sneaked into the bathroom to try the pregnancy test in January. She was scared but she went ahead with it and the test came positive. After that, she had to tell her parents about her pregnancy and that they were going to become grandparents for the fifth time, as per SUN UK.
"My cycle is regular, so I knew I was pregnant. But I was scared of finding out for sure — and what Mum would say. As ‘two-three weeks pregnant’ flashed up, I knew instantly I was keeping the baby. My fear immediately turned to excitement," she said. "It’s weird that my baby will have an aunt who is only five months older. But it means they’ll hopefully be really close," she said. "My parents have always seen me as the ‘good girl’. They are not strict but I knew that telling them would make it real. Thankfully, they weren’t disappointed. They were excited," she said.
Unlike her mom, Millie will not have her daughter's name ending in an "e". She has picked a beautiful and Shakespearean name for her daughter, who will be called "Ophelia," as per Mirror UK. The seventh Radford child, who announced her pregnancy in March, revealed her daughter's name through Instagram. One of her followers said, "oh my goshhh!! such a beautiful name." While another said, "Awwww very cute." Another follower called the name "perfect" for the "perfect" girl.
Millie's siblings are Chris, 31, Sophie, 25, Chloe, 24, Jack, 22, Daniel, 20, Luke, 19, Katie, 17, James, 16, Ellie, 15, Aimee, 14, Josh, 12, Max, 11, Tillie, 9, Oscar, 8, Casper, 7, Hallie, 4, Phoebe, 3, Archie, 2, and Bonnie, 1, and Heidie who is a few weeks old (she was born on April 3, 2020). Sue and Noel's 17th child Alfie was stillborn in 2014.
The family lives in Morecambe, Lancs. Millie revealed that her parents accompanied her 12-week scan at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary on February 24. "When I was at the hospital, people couldn’t believe we were a mum and daughter who were both pregnant. Lots of the staff were clamoring to be my mum’s midwife. They all want to watch her give birth. But I didn’t feel overshadowed because I can see why people love her. Midwives know her story and think she’s amazing," she said, as per Mirror UK.
The 18-year-old is not looking forward to the labor process. "Seeing how happy children make my mum, I grew up knowing I wanted kids. But I was convinced I’d use a surrogate. The one thing I am really frightened about is labor. I’ve never seen my mum give birth, but I’ve watched it on TV on One Born Every Minute. I know I’ll just have to get through it. I want to do it as naturally as possible like Mum, who has never had a C-section or epidural," she said.
However, with her parents by her side, she feels prepared to become a mother. She's also had training while taking care of her own siblings. "I’ve changed more nappies than I can count and I am an expert at getting squirmy babies into tiny clothes. I have had a lot of practice. I started helping Mum with the babies when I was around eight years old — changing them, bathing them and feeding them. My older siblings did it for me, and it’s just how our family works. I don’t know how they did it, but I also spent quite a bit of one-on-one time with my parents, too," she added.
References:
thesun.co.uk/fabulous/11135227/millie-radford-22-kids-pregnant-18/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pregnant-teen-britains-biggest-family-22022681
