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Highest number children you know someone to have in real life?

412 replies

Newsenmum · 22/10/2026 20:10

People talk about these crazy massive families that exist on news but what is the largest family you know? Im from quite a middle class area down south. Most families I know have one or two kids, sometimes three. I have one friend pregnant with her fourth and know one school mum with five! Very unusual though.

OP posts:
CrazyMidget · 22/10/2026 20:12

Of people I know, no more than three. I've only ever known one family with 5 or 6, and that was many years ago at primary school. I don't even know anyone with four.

Aydel · 22/10/2026 20:12

I have a friend who is one of 13. I spent some time on a religious moshav on the Golan Heights some years back and the people I stayed with had eight children, and theirs was one of the smallest families. I’ve never seen so many children in one place!

wifty · 22/10/2026 20:13

South East as well - know one family with 4 kids (maybe 5 - can’t remember :D)

They were quite wealthy and all privately educated so I dread to think of the private school bill😂

ThunderingAlpaca72 · 22/10/2026 20:13

a friend just had her 5th

ThreeLeggedCat · 22/10/2026 20:14

I have one friend with 10 kids and another with 7.

Borracha · 22/10/2026 20:14

I live in the Middle East and know many local families with 8+. Even amongst western expat families, 3 or 4 is quite common. I have 3 and am always being asked when I’m having another!

Blackandyellow65 · 22/10/2026 20:15

I know a few with 8. They are all the older generations though

BigBadPotato · 22/10/2026 20:15

Of people of my generation (30s) most families I know are two or three, but four isn’t super unusual. I think seven is the biggest I personally know, which does seem a bit much! She’s a cracking mother though and they certainly seem like really happy kids. I don’t know the dad as he works away much of the time. I know plenty of older people from much larger families but of course, times have changed! I’m one of six myself.

Mumof1andacat · 22/10/2026 20:16

My own! My mum is 1 of 9. Its resulted in around 17 cousins who's children are now having children. My dad is from a big family too. He's one of 7. Not sure on the cousin count on that side.

MotherofPufflings · 22/10/2026 20:16

I have a friend with 9. Youngest is late teens now, eldest in their 30s.

Ronaldos · 22/10/2026 20:17

7 and they all had constant nits and were dirty and scruffy . But good catholics and they were held up as (good) example . Poor kids , the parents were so busy being bastions of the church the kids had to look after each other

ThisThreadCouldOutMe · 22/10/2026 20:18
  1. I think. It might be 13. She gets very annoyed if you ask how many as she assumes its a judgement.

I also have 2 friends who both have 7, both have had stillborns so have had 8 each.

Ponderingwindow · 22/10/2026 20:20

5, but the “children” are currently in their 80s.
4 for “children” in their 50s-60s
3 for actual children.

Lastqueenofscotland2 · 22/10/2026 20:22

I went to school with one of 8. Super wealthy family.
I worked with someone who was one of 13.

I have a good friend who’s parents have both been married three times and has tonnes of siblings, step siblings, and half siblings and honestly embarrassed to say she’s explained it more than once but I can’t get my head around the numbers. More than 10.

flanderlanda · 22/10/2026 20:22

6

WaneyEdge · 22/10/2026 20:22

Someone I was friends with years ago has 6. Chap I used to work with has either 7/8.

SparkleHorse82 · 22/10/2026 20:23

5

HPFA · 22/10/2026 20:23

I knew someone at university who was the youngest of twelve.

LeftFooter · 22/10/2026 20:23

My friend (50s) is one of 13.

I know families with 8, 10 or 12 children.

plasticplate · 22/10/2026 20:23

Nine children but this was in the 70s/80s. I knew a lot of catholic families with four or five children. When my own generation were having children or more recently, probably five.

Waitingfordoggo · 22/10/2026 20:23

My Dad was one of 8 (all of them born in the late 1930s through to early 1950s) but that wasn’t unusual in those days. He was the only boy though which is a bit more unusual (and no, he wasn’t the youngest!)

But if we’re talking modern times, one of my friends has 4 children. All of my other friends have 0-3 children. If I’m being completely honest, I just haven’t gravitated towards making friends with women who have a lot of children because I’d find it a bit too hectic and noisy to spend time with them. And having loads of children suggests a personality type that I probably don’t really gel with as a friend. I don’t mean that to sound as critical as it might do. I’m sure that women who have loads of kids are generally lovely people- they’re certainly hard-working, but their lifestyle and approach to life is very different to mine so I’m not sure we’d have much in common.

ProtestantTraybakeQueen · 22/10/2026 20:24

5 - the people who live in the local stately home, includes twins

5 - lady who works at school, includes TWO sets of twins

Also know someone else with 2 sets of twins! But only the 4 kids!

I know many, many families with 4 kids. Some with 4 singletons, but plenty who went for a third and got twins.

We have 3.

Trying to think of anyone with 6, but don’t think I do.

My fave is Chloe & Beans on insta/youtube who I’ve followed since she had 3 kids, now has TEN including triplets and twins. Which is mental. Now newly divorced. Yikes!

herenew · 22/10/2026 20:25

As a child living down south I had a neighbour that had 8 children

Baconisawesome · 22/10/2026 20:26

My friends up north have 9 kids and obviously no tele … 🤣

Waitingfordoggo · 22/10/2026 20:27

Just as an add-on to my post- for some reason I interpreted the question as meaning families we know well as opposed to families we ‘know of’, which is why I’ve gone on about friendships 😂

So aside from people I actually know, I also know of a couple of local families with 6 children, neither of them particularly wealthy as far as I can see, so God knows how they manage.