SHE has 16 children living at home ? plus a granddaughter.
Her days start at 6.45am and aren?t over until 10pm, but Sue Radford says she couldn?t be happier having the biggest family under one roof in Britain.
And the supermum hasn?t ruled out having MORE kids.
Sue, 37, said: ?It can be hard work but I wouldn?t change it for the world. I love watching all the children grow up and I?m not sure we?re finished yet.?
Sue and husband Noel, 41, who run a bakery and are not on benefits, never planned on having a big family.
They keep things going on around ?30,000 a year income from their business and ?180 a week in child benefit.
The couple were childhood sweethearts when Sue fell pregnant with first son Chris at just 14.
She said: ?Being a teenage mum was really hard. I was still at school and I think most people thought Noel and I would split up.
?But we loved each other and we were determined to make it work. We?re soulmates really. We?re both adopted and neither of us came from big families.
?We got married when I was 18 and soon after found out we were pregnant with Sophie. We never thought we?d have a big family. We thought we?d have two or three children and that would be it.
Vast supper ... the Radfords at home
?Now, 20 years and 16 children later, we?re still going strong. Our house is always full of chatter and laughter and we love it.?
Chris, now 23, and Sophie, 19, were joined by Chloe, 17, Jack, 15, Daniel, 13, and Luke, 12. Then came 11-year-old Millie, Katie, ten, James, nine, Ellie, seven, Aimee, six, Josh, five, Max, four, Tillie, two, and babies Oscar, 15 months, and Casper, three months.
Sue added: ?I?ve been lucky in that all my pregnancies have been fairly easy and straightforward. My body seems to get back into shape quite quickly and I think running around after all the children helps keep me fit too.?
When Sue?s eldest daughter Sophie gave birth to Daisy four months ago, she knew who to turn to for advice.
Sue said: ?Sophie would come and ask me if a pregnancy symptom she was experiencing was normal and I?d be able to reassure her. After 16 pregnancies I?m pretty used to what happens!?
Sophie, her partner Joe and the baby all live at the Radford family home, a nine-bedroom former care home they own in Morecambe, Lancs.
The children are well known in the local schools ? with five currently in the secondary and five in the primary.
Having such a big family doesn?t come cheap. The weekly supermarket bill tops ?250 and the family polishes off 18 pints of milk a day.
School uniforms cost ?700 a year and ? with up to three birthdays a month ? they spend more than ?3,000 on presents and parties. They even have to draw up a checklist to make sure they remember each of the kids? birthdays. Sue says they have worked hard to find the money, explaining: ?Noel and I saved up and bought the bakery business when I was pregnant with our fifth child Daniel.
?By then we knew we loved having children and wanted to be able to provide a good standard of life for them all.?
The couple take pride in the fact they have no credit card debt or items on finance and make sure the children are always well turned out.
Sue said: ?A lot of mums tell me they can only just manage with two children and have no idea how we cope with 16. The key is routine though. Without a routine I think I?d really struggle.?
Sue runs her day with military precision, starting with getting the kids? breakfast ready at 6.45am. She then has to get them to school, do the washing, ironing, cleaning and shopping before the children are home again.
Noel, who starts at the bakery at 5am, comes home to help with the school run and makes the evening meal. And he?s got cooking for 20 down to a fine art. A family favourite is cottage pie, which has 3lbs of mince, two large bags of potatoes, broccoli and carrots ? all for 50p a head.
Bedtime starts around 7pm and the day finishes at 10pm ? but even then Sue gets up at least twice a night to feed baby Casper.
She said: ?I don?t actually mind getting up in the night with the baby.
?I quite like the time we get to have cuddles together.?
Despite the hectic home life, Sue and Noel make sure they spend some time alone together. She revealed: ?We try to have a date night once a month as we realised we weren?t really spending enough time together as a couple.
?We might have a night in a hotel or go out for a meal. It?s good for us.?
They also insist on taking an annual family holiday ? although with so many children to consider, it is anything but regular.
Last year?s break cost ?5,000, plus nearly ?1,000 just to apply for and renew eight of the children?s passports.
Sue said: ?We decided to go to France. We have a 15-seater minibus at home which normally does us, but we had to hire a bigger bus to fit everyone in.
?We hired three caravans for a week, but we ended up sleeping in just two of them as the kids like to be close together.?
The family always raise a few eyebrows wherever they go. Sue said: ?Other families on the campsite were a bit surprised by how many of us there were.
?You can see people counting the kids as they go past and you do get some comments, but they?re all nice. We work really hard throughout the year and I think having some time away is really important.?
The Radfords? home life might be getting a little quieter soon.
Eldest child Chris still lives at home and works full-time and Sophie is taking a break from the family business while she looks after baby Daisy ? but 17-year-old Chloe is hoping to head off to university this year.
Sue said: ?She?ll be the first to fly the nest and I?ll really miss her. Having Chloe leave after the summer and also becoming grandparents marks a new chapter for us.
?I can?t imagine the house ever being empty though.
?Once we decide we don?t want any more children we?re going to look into fostering ? so it?s never going to be quiet.
?I don?t think it?s an addiction, we just love having children.?
- 16 Kids and Counting is on Channel 4, Friday at 9pm.
j.sloan@the-sun.co.uk
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