Expecting 14th child but will have more babies till twins or triplets??? I must be insane

[Divatheshopaholic]

I dont know if anyone started thread already. I just spotted this on DM
39 year old with 13children expecting 14th and there will be more coming.
I love big family, but after having two, we decided two is just enough but this seems abnormal, having twins or triplets is kind of her destiny

Disguss! What do you think? Would you have as many as her? I

bloody nora- am i 'on benefits' if we get tax credits (and nothing else) and both bring in an income?

reallywoundup - yes you are apparently. What's more if you get more in tax credits than you pay in tax then you're not better than this couple..........unless you have 3 children or less .

And there was me looking forward to the day that DH is fit for work again and getting off the "benefits" >>

well feck me- i'd better ring 'em up and report myself, because i don't think we should have the income we do and still be 'on benefits'.

Fortunatly our tax credit award is far less than what dh pays in tax, but on the other hand we have 5 kids!

ahh you're ok then as you pay more tax than you get back

I have no problem with DH taxes being used to support children who's parents 'can't afford' to support them without it.
Causing the children to suffer in order to penalise the parents is petty.

I don't know whether it's entirely wise to name one of your children after a serial killer

But ROFL at Baudelaire ? named after the Baudelaire orphans.

As I do pay more in tax than I receive in benefits, am I allowed to criticise this lifestyle choice?

Quattro you may not. They are entitled

yes you may criticise this lifestyle choice, but only if you criticise the money aspect - criticising the effects on their children is not allowed, nor relevant.

Oh okay

I thought the kids names were a wind-up by the DM so i looked at the Birth records for UK registered births:

Well he?s not the only Frodo in the UK ? there are 3 including one born back in 1969 and another 3 have it as their middle name! More worryingly her Frodo?s middle name is Jesus!

125 people in Britain have Malachai as their first or middle name and 15 have Morpheus. 44 have the name Rogue and there are 2 people with the midddlename Blackbird

A staggering 235 people have Echo as one of their given names!

But she has the only Peppermint and the only Voorhees.

Products of an overly generous welfare state.

Malachai isn't that weird though is it? I'm sure it's a Biblical name

Malachai is a 'normal' name.
Echo is from classical Greek mythology I do believe.
And Jesus is only unusual in English-speaking countries afaik.

that's true Jesus very common in Hispanic countries - pronounced "Yay-zoo" or similar I believe.

Yep, I've got an Uncle Jesus.

Always looking, if you read the thread you will see I have critised every aspect of their set up.
It's just you chose to jump on critisism of their financial situation

and were YOU the one that first brought it up?? No - I didn't think so, so why take offence when I make a point on principle.

or is it principal??? I need caffeine............

I think it's very sad if it's true that the only reason she keeps having pregnancy after pregnancy is because she wants twins or triplets. Hopefully, this couple are not making their other children feel unworthy and the comment about the twins was a jokey throwaway comment that has been picked up on by the press.

At each of my first scans I would have been delighted if the operator had informed me that there were 2 in there I sometimes joked that there was just the 1. This in no way detracted from the specialness and love that I had for my singleton.

As regards the tax credits this family receive then as alwayslooking says, if they are entitled to them then they should receive them as do other families who are entitled to them. It sounds as though the family would benefit from some financial advice though to improve their situation. However, as I don't know the details of their situation I suppose I'm not really in a position to comment.

Am I missing something here?
Tax credits were brought in to lift working families out of poverty.
Surely those families then have some responsibilty - to their children and themselves, as much as to the state - to not exacerbate matters by having more and more children.

To me it seems indefensible to simply continue having children because you 'want' them, as if they are some inaliable right.
We all 'want' to do things, but don't because we have responsibilities too, both to our families and too society as a whole.

Litchick - well that argument doens't really stack up when you consider that people earning above the average wage also qualify for tax credits.

The threshold for getting them is hardl one that only includes the poor as it is.

I don't know what the average wage is to be honest, but I expect it's quite low when you consider how expensive housing etc is in the UK.
50k a year to bring up 16 of you hardly leaves them living in the lap of luxury does it? The fact that they can't afford to move despite beng seriously overcrowded makes me assume they are really not well off at all.

average wage is around £23k irrc.

Which - imo - is a decent salary.

Just like to point out AGAIN (not to you Lit as you've just come onto the thread ) - that there are currently 14 of them living the house this will rise to 15 when their 14th child is born.

I'm guessing as it's council housing they can't just up and move as they couldn't afford to rent privately somewhere big enough for all of them?

Of course the 50k in "benefits" (I'm still that once DH is working again according to MN we'll still be on benefits) will rise once the 14th child is born, plus they have his income as well.

Is 23k the average person's wage or family income? If the later, then it doesn't seem like much to bring up a family of four or five to be honest.

And as for whether the 50k in this situation is earned or provided by the state or a combination of the two, hardly matters does it? It's simply not enough for all those children and two adults. As such, these parents had a responsibilty to stop when it became untennable.

think it's the average family income.

I would be ECSTATIC if DH were to get a job paying 23k - there's 5 of us.

You've misunderstood my comment about the 50k - they get 50k in child benefit and working tax credit. The father also has a job - which presumably brings an income into the house.

aside from the housing cost - which would be pretty high for a 6 or 7 bedroom house - although you can get a 5 bedrooom house in Derby for 800pcm and 6 bedrooms between 1,200-2000pcm - which Imo with an income of that lets just assume around 65k (assuming he earns 15k pa) isn't really too bad - although obviously heating/running costs would be more.

I do think that 50k is fine for 14 people.