Life with 13 kids is
Superdad ROY HANN tells us why he’s really looking forward to celebrating Father’s Day with his enormous brood
having Rachel, Emma fell pregnant again with Sophia, 24, then Polly, 22 and Charlotte, 21.
Although pregnancy was never a walk in the park for stay-at-homemum Emma, 47, she says she loves the feeling of expecting a child.
“I love being pregnant and I miss the bump when it’s gone,” she says. But she admits she’s had it easier than some women.
“I’ve been very lucky with my pregnancies. I tend to lose weight rather than gain it and although I do get nauseous it has never been too bad,” she says.
“I’m not superhuman and despite having natural labours, that part never gets any easier. You’d think I could sneeze them out by now.”
Roy confesses that no matter how many children they had they always yearned for another.
“We never had a specific number of children in mind, we just took it one step at a time. But however many we had, it never seemed like enough and we ended up trying for another.”
After Charlotte, the pair had a two-year break but soon they were expecting Alice, 18, followed by Annabelle, 16, Jennifer, 15, Isabella, 13, Jonas, 11, Enos, nine, Eva, seven, Posy, six, and two-year-old Meg.
But being the father to 13 children comes with its challenges.
At times Roy has had to work two jobs, or put in more than 60 hours a week at his job as a nurse practitioner.
“It can be very hard providing for a family of 13. I work long hours so Emma can stay at home and look after the kids,” he says.
And having so many children means they don’t indulge in foreign holidays or expensive meals out.
“We don’t tend to go on holiday and Emma cooks everything from scratch. We go through 40 pints of milk a week and two loaves a day.”