V different countries around the world, large families are families with different numbers of children. In Russia (in some regions), a family with three children is considered a large family. Families with a large number of children are everywhere: Europe, Asia, America, Africa. We decided to find out which are the most large families in the world? Our list includes only those families in which children were born by parents, and not taken for upbringing.

10. Jose Maria Postigo and Rosa Peach | 15 children

José Maria Postigo and Rosa Peach - 15 children.

This is the largest family in Spain. Parents grew up in large families and had no doubt that someday they would have their own large family. Rosa and Jose Maria lost three children - they were born with heart disease. After experienced tragic cases, parents had 15 healthy babies. The couple lead an active social life and founded a charity. Rose took the time to write a book about living happily while raising 15 children. In March 2017, Jose Maria Postigo died of liver cancer, and now all the worries about a large family fell on the shoulders of his wife Rosa.

9. The Bonell family | 16 children

Bonell family - 16 children.

Before meeting her future husband, Ray, the Australian Jenny was not at all interested in marriage, and even more so in children. Now the Bonells are among the largest families in the world, and Jenny is not going to stop after giving birth to 16 children. Over the years of marriage, she suffered 7 miscarriages, but this did not stop the mother of many children, who adores children. Now Ray and Jenny are raising 7 daughters and 9 sons. For such a number of children, the couple had to get a bus. Despite the difficulties, the Bonells do not rule out that another child will someday appear in their family.

8. Bates family | 19 children

The Bates family - 19 children.

Kelly, the mother of one of the largest families in the world, gives birth to babies almost every year. She never had twins, twins or triplets. The Bates are evangelicals, so they don't use contraception. None of the children attend public kindergartens and schools - they all received home education. The four eldest sons have already started their own families and live separately from their parents.

7. Radford family | 19 children

The Radford family - 19 children.

The Radfords are the largest family in the UK. It is noteworthy that Sue Radford gave birth to her first child at the age of 14. The couple now have 19 children. They both lived in foster families, had known each other since the age of seven and dreamed of their big and friendly family. In the summer of 2017, it became known that an addition is expected in a large family - 42-year-old Sue is expecting her 20th child. She already knows it will be a boy. On this, according to Sue and Noel, they decided to stop - age does not allow a woman to bear more children.

The head of the Noel family is the owner of a bakery, where he works from 5 am until late at night to support his numerous offspring. The Radfords are fully self-sufficient and do not ask for help from the state.

6. The Duggar family | 19 children

The Duggar family - 19 children.

The Duggar family is one of the most famous large families in the world thanks to the TV show 19 Kids and Counting which features their Everyday life. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are the parents of 10 boys and 9 girls. A large family lives in Tontytown, Arkansas. They lead a quiet life, children receive home education. Older children help their parents raise the younger ones and perform daily chores around the house.

Interesting fact: the names of all children in this family begin with the letter "J". Their parents explain the presence of such a large number of children with a miscarriage, which ended Michelle's first pregnancy. The elder Duggars believe that the tragedy was due to oral contraceptives. After that, they refused to accept them. In 2011, the Duggars announced that they were expecting their 20th child, but Michelle had a miscarriage.

5. The Shishkin family | 20 children

The Shishkin family - 20 children.

The largest family in Russia lives in the Voronezh region. The Shishkins had 11 girls and 9 boys. The father of the family, Alexander, grew up in a large family and always dreamed that he would have many children. The older ones have already grown up and left, and ten younger children now live with their parents. Alexander and Elena can also boast of an impressive number of grandchildren - they have 23 of them. The Shishkins do not have everything going smoothly in their lives and everyday life - only for light and water they have to pay huge sums every month.

4. Guinness Family | 21 children

Guinness family - 21 children.

Irish brewer Arthur Guinness is known not only as the founder of the legendary Guinness brand, but also as the head of a large family of 21 children. Three of the children continued the family business and became brewers following their father's example. By the way, the world-famous Guinness Book of Records is directly related to the brewer with many children. Once it was decided to create an authoritative source that would help resolve disputes that arise among pub visitors. At first, the book included scientific facts, which gradually supplanted the amazing and extraordinary achievements of people from all over the globe.

3. Nameni family | 21 children

Nameni's family - 21 children.

The largest family in Ukraine lives in the village of Ostritsa, Chernivtsi region. Leonora and Janos are believers, so they rely on God in the matter of childbearing. The older children already have families of their own, and Leonora and Janos have six grandchildren. They earn their living from agriculture. They do not expect help from the state, the father of the family works where he can. After the birth of the 20th child, the family was included in the Book of Records of Ukraine, and Leonora received the title of mother-heroine.

2. The Greenhill family | 39 children

Greenhill family - 39 children.

One of the largest families in the world is the Greenhill family that lived in England in the 17th century. They raised 32 daughters and 7 sons. Elizabeth Greenhill holds an amazing record: she gave birth 37 times to one baby and once to twins.

1. The Vasiliev family | 67 children

The Vasiliev family - 67 children.

All birth records in modern large families fade before the story of a Russian peasant woman who gave birth to 69 children. Her name, unfortunately, remains unknown. According to information from the annals of the Nikolsky Monastery, the first wife of the peasant Fyodor Vasiliev gave birth 27 times: 16 pairs of twins, 7 triplets and 4 quadruplets. Only two children did not survive infancy. The Vasilievs thus became the most large family in the world.

If you grew up in a large family, then you probably experienced the chaos that reigns in the house during family holidays and celebrations. However, on this moment in the world the trend of declining birth rates prevails. Since 1950, the total fertility rate in the world has declined, on average, from 4.95 children per woman to 2.36. However, large families still remain an important part of the culture and economy around the world. For all the time, a lot of cases have been known when women became mothers of more than 10 children, and today we will tell you a little more about them.

10. Mrs. Harrison (Mrs. Harrison) - 35 children

We don't know much about Mrs. Harrison (including her first name). This woman lived most of her life on Faith Street in London, England. An article about her was published in the magazine John Mockett, which told about the birth of her 35th child in 1736. We do not know how many of her children survived to adulthood, nor is it known how many births this woman experienced in total.

9. Elizabeth Greenhill (Elizabeth Greenhill) - 39 children

Thomas Greenhill was a well-known English surgeon in his day, as well as an educator and supporter of embalming. He gained his fame after he published his book called The Art of Embalming, although at that time this practice was quite rare. Thomas was the last of 39 children born to Elizabeth and William Greenhill. What is surprising is that in their family there were only two twins, all other children were born one by one. In total, Elizabeth survived 37 births.

8. Alice Hooks - 41 children


Everything we know about Alice Hooks comes from the inscription on the tombstone on her son's grave, located in the churchyard of Conway Church in North Wales. According to this inscription, Nicholas, who died in 1637, was the 41st son of Alice Hooks.

7. Elizabeth Mott (Elizabeth Mott) - 42 children

Elizabeth Mott was born in the village of Monks Kirby in England and married John Mott in 1676, after which she began her journey as a mother of many children. All of Elizabeth's pregnancies ended on time, she had 42 healthy babies.

6. Maddalena Granata (Maddalena Granata) - 52 children

Maddalena Granata, who was born in 1839 in Italy, is rumored to have given the world 52 children and has become a real local celebrity. We know little about whether her children subsequently survived, but the birth of 52 children is already a real feat in itself.

5. Barbara Stratzmann (Barbara Stratzmann) - 53 children


Barbara was born in Bönnigheim, Germany, and is rumored to have given birth to a total of 53 children in her life. At the time of her last birth, Barbara was 50 years old and had gone through 29 births, giving the world five twins, four triplets, one six at a time, and then seven at a time. Of Barbara's 53 children, 19 were stillborn, which was not uncommon at that time. However, 34 children survived to adulthood.

4. Leontina Albina - 55 children


Born in 1926 in Chile, Leontina Albina holds the record for modern history for the largest number of children. According to her, she gave birth to 64 children, but only 55 of them were officially registered (not a rare occurrence in Chile). Only 40 of Leontina's children survived to adulthood.

3. The Kirillov family - 57 children


Kirillova, a peasant woman from the village of Vvedensky (Russia), managed to give birth to 57 children in her entire life. In total, she had 21 births, giving birth to 10 pairs of twins, seven triplets and four quadruplets. Since nothing else is known about her, many consider this story to be only a legend. However, according to court papers, there were indeed 57 children in the Kirillov family.

2. Rosa Gravata (Mrs. Gravata) - 62 children


An incident in the Gravata family caused a real stir in the local press in October 1923, when it turned out that a resident of Palermo (Italy) had recently become a mother for 62 times. Rosa Gravata gave birth to triplets twice, quadruplets once, quintuplets and even gears. All her other children were born one by one. All of them were born healthy, but it was never known whether they managed to live to adulthood.

1. The Vasiliev family - 69 children


A certain Vasilyeva (we did not manage to find out her name) even managed to get into the Guinness Book of Records, having received the title of "the most prolific mother." Vasilyeva was a peasant woman who lived in the town of Shuya in Russia in the 18th century. Throughout her life, she managed to give birth to 69 children as a result of 27 births (between 1725 and 1765). Among her offspring, one can find 16 pairs of twins, seven triplets and four pairs of quadruplets. Even more surprisingly, only two of her children did not live to adulthood.

The largest family in Russia lives in the Rostov region, in the small village of Rassvet. There are 81 children per mother. MIR 24 correspondent Ksenia Krikheli met them.

“My husband and I have always been lucky. The children either came themselves, or they gave them to us, ”says mother of many children Tatyana Sorokina.

And it all started 44 years ago. Then Tatyana Sorokina had two of her children. Then she gave up the child Native sister.

“I got married all the time, and left my daughter to me. Now she is 45. Grandmother also brought her grandson. Her son killed his wife, her grandmother brought her and says: let him live with you, ”said Tatyana Sorokina ..

Children always meet Tatyana Vasilievna. And it doesn’t matter if she left for the whole day or was absent for only half an hour. Now they live in the house of Tatyana Sorokina - adopted, adopted, under guardianship. Everyone is considered family. She does not forget about those whom she has already released into life. And this is another 60 people. You can't count everyone.

“These are all our children. The first round - then everyone was still small, minors. The second circle, those who were already adults, and the third circle - those who are married, ”explains Tatyana Sorokina.

Back in 1989, Sorokina was offered to officially take custody of 12 children from orphanage. And off we go. A month ago, Tatyana Vasilievna received a letter from Pskov. The woman asked to take away her two sons for a while. Like, difficult life situation. Well, how can you refuse?

"To them in Orphanage didn't take. I help her. When she left us, she came back to check where they live. He says: “You must be judging me?” And I answer: “No, girl, I just feel sorry for you,” said Tatyana Sorokina

Kostya has been here for a year. On TV I saw a program about the large Sorokin family. I wrote a letter with a request to pick him up from the Irkutsk orphanage.

“A couple of months later, Tatyana Vasilyevna came to us and said that they would pick us up. They beat me, Maxim and Ilya there, but they don't beat me here. They love me here, ”Kostya shared.

The Sorokins live in the village of Rassvet. This house was built together with Tatyana's husband Mikhail. Especially for a big family. Mikhail passed away five years ago. Now she is the main one here and is responsible for everyone.

“My dream is to become an auto electrician and start good family", - said Kostya.

“My last dream is to finish school well and go to a good university,” Sasha added.

“I want to become a doctor in the future,” Lisa shared.

“I want to become a fireman and put out the fire,” Kostya admitted.

“My dream was to be taken to a very good family, and it came true,” said Ilya.

There is enough work for everyone here. Lisa and Tanya, for example, are responsible for cleaning the rooms and the library.

“Some parrots are cleaned. Maxim is in the hall, Kostya is cleaning the stairs - everyone has a plot, ”explained Lisa Sorokina.

Here everything is measured by huge pans, boxes and bags. If potatoes for lunch, then two buckets. If bread, then more than 10 loaves.

“Many people consider our money: “Oh, granny, she settled down well, lives for free at the expense of her children.” And the fact that more than half of them live on my freebie, ”says Tatiana Sorokina.

The income of the Sorokins by Russian standards is really quite good. - 25 thousand, the salary of the guardian is 20 thousand. And child support. For each child - from nine to 15 thousand. Total about 200 thousand per month. But still, every penny counts. The tenth part immediately goes to the communal apartment. An impressive sum for food and clothing. There are also seasonal expenses: to collect, for example, children to school.

Waiting for the 19th

Sue and Noel Radford are expecting their 19th baby! Sue Radford is 40 years old and 12 weeks pregnant. The couple and their children live on the income from their own bakery, they are proud that they have no loans and they have enough money to live on.

Sue first became pregnant at the age of 14, her future husband was 5 years older than her. Young people got married and kept the child, they were guided by the fact that both were adopted at one time.

Sue and Noel Radford are expecting their 19th baby! Photo from thesun.co.uk

“It was a big surprise for us. We firmly decided that we did not want more children, but on New Year we got lucky again,” Sue Radford told The Sun.

The Shishkin family from Voronezh

The Russian family of Alexander and Elena Shishkin has 20 children. They live in a private house in Voronezh with a total area of ​​400 sq. meters. They have 10 bedrooms, 2 halls and a kitchen. The eldest daughters prepare food for a large family, the rest of the children help them.

The eldest son Alexei is already married, he has 3 children, he lives separately from his parents, the remaining 19 children live with them.

21 children in the village of Ostritsa, Chernivtsi region

Ukrainians Leonora and Janos Nameni have 21 children. They live in the village of Ostritsa, Chernivtsi region. She gave birth to her 21 children three years ago at the age of 44. Leonora and her 47-year-old husband Janos themselves come from large families. The head of the family has 16 brothers and sisters, his wife has 14.

The woman gave birth to her first son, Jonathan, at the age of 21, and since then the addition to their family has happened almost annually, twins have appeared twice. Now, after the birth of Janos Jr., there are eleven sons and ten daughters in the family. Seventeen of them live with their parents.

The largest American family

The largest American family has 19 children. Americans Jim Bob Duggar and his wife Michelle have the names of all children beginning with the letter J. Jim Bob and Michelle got married on July 21, 1984. At first, the couple did not at all strive for large families, their first child was born to them three years after the wedding.

At this, Jim Bob and Michelle decided to limit themselves, and Michelle decided to take birth control, but unexpectedly she had a miscarriage. After this incident, the couple no longer avoided children and decided to trust God. After this decision, Michelle gave birth to children about once every year and a half.

On American television, the show 19 Kids and Counting is dedicated to a large family. The father of the family Jim Bob Duggar is engaged in real estate and makes good money. In addition, the management of the TV channel on which the show 19 Kids and Counting airs helped the family with the purchase of a house.

Shuya peasant

The family of the Shuya peasant Fyodor Vasiliev (1707-1782) is considered the largest in the world. His first wife, whose name history, unfortunately, has not preserved, gave birth to 69 children: 16 pairs of twins, 7 triplets and 4 quadruples. In total, she gave birth 27 times. Of the 69 children born, 67 survived infancy.

After the death of his first wife, Fyodor Vasiliev married again, the second wife, whose name we also do not know, bore him 18 more children: six twins and two triplets. As a result, the Shuya peasant Fyodor Vasilyev became the father of 87 children.

The first wife of Fyodor Vasiliev is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest mother in the world. By the way, about the book.

Brewer Guinness

Brewer Arthur Guinness, founder of the Irish brewing company that bears his name, was father of many children. His wife Olivia Whitmore gave birth to 21 children, of which 10 survived to adulthood and three continued their father's work.

By the way, many believe that the Guinness Book of Records has nothing to do with beer. But it's not. Has, and the most direct. In order to resolve disputes in pubs without bloodshed, a source was needed that could be trusted and where all the records would be recorded. The Guinness company began to publish this book for their pubs.

Over time, the directory, which contains all the achievements of people and animals, information about unique natural phenomena and progress, has become popular all over the world. Families with many children also, of course, found their place here.

The largest number of children born to one mother, according to official data, is 69. According to reports made in 1782, between 1725 and 1765. wife of a Russian peasant Fyodor Vasiliev gave birth 27 times, thus producing 16 times twins, 7 times triplets and 4 times 4 twins. Of these, only 2 children died in infancy.

Of our contemporaries, Leontina Albina (or Alvina) from San Antonio, Chile, who in 1943-81 is considered the most prolific mother. gave birth to 55 children. As a result of the first 5 pregnancies, she gave birth to triplets, and exclusively male.

Giving birth the most times

Record number of times - 38 - gave birth, is said to be Elizabeth Greenhill of Abbots Langley, c. Hertfordshire, UK. She had 39 children - 32 daughters and 7 sons - and died in 1681.

The largest number of multiple births in one family

Maddalena Pomegranate from Italy (b. 1839) had triplets born 15 times.

There is also information about the birth on May 29, 1971 in Philadelphia, pc. Pennsylvania, USA, and in May 1977 in Bagarhat, Bangladesh, 11 twins. In both cases, no child survived.

Most fertile pregnancies

Dr. Gennaro Montanino, Rome, Italy, claims that in July 1971 he removed from the uterus of a 35-year-old woman who was 4 months pregnant the embryos of 10 girls and 5 boys. This unique case of 15-fertility was the result of infertility pills.

9 children - the most a large number of with one pregnancy - was born on June 13, 1971 by Geraldine Broadrick in Sydney, Australia. 5 boys and 4 girls were born: 2 boys were stillborn, and none of the rest survived more than 6 days.

The birth of 10 twins (2 boys and 8 girls) is known from reports from Spain (1924), China (1936) and Brazil (April 1946).

Most surviving twins

In January 2009, an American woman whose weight ranged from 800 gr. up to 1.4 kg. Six boys and two girls were born at 31 weeks pregnant. By this time, the mother already had six children and she had never been married.

All of the children survived, and the mother, dubbed "Octom Mom" ​​by the media, made her record a source of income by starring in various television programs and shows.

The largest father

The largest father in the history of our country is the peasant of the village of Vvedensky Yakov Kirillov, who in 1755 was presented to the court in connection with this (he was then 60 years old). First wife of a peasant gave birth to 57 children: 4 times four, 7 times three, 9 times two and 2 times one. The second wife gave birth to 15 children. Thus, Yakov Kirillov had 72 children from two wives.

The richest grandfather

The richest grandfather is called a resident of Novokuznetsk. And he has 13 children: eleven sons and two daughters.