For most, having a big family isn’t within their plans for practical reasons; but this certainly does not apply to Kansas native Britni Church, a mother-of-11. Britni never imagined having such a large family, but once she started welcoming children she loved the constant company that having a big family provided.
Britni Church, 31, from Arkansas City, Kansas, had her first child, daughter Crizman, just a few days after her 16th birthday. She has since welcomed 10 more children -Jordan, 14, Caleb, 13, Jace, 12, Cadence 10, Jesalyn, eight, Christopher, three, and one-year-old triplets Oliver, Asher and Abel – and has spent a total of 10 years ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ.
To care for their troupe of 11, Britni and second husband, Chris Church, 28, spend £230 per week on shopping, including five boxes of cereal, 66 cartons of milk and 600 nappies. However despite the sᴛʀᴀɪɴ of having a super-size family – and the extra-large bills – Britni admitted she wants to add to her brood and would want as many as 15 children. She says she trusts her children’s judgement on the issue – and would not have any more babies if they ᴏʙᴊᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ.
She said: “I hope we’ll try to have another girl still. I don’t think I would ever have more than 15 kids but then again I never thought I’d have 11 kids. I thought I would have maybe four kids maximum. It does not feel like I have lots of kids – it feels normal. If any of the kids said, ‘you can’t have anymore’ l would accept that it’s too much.”
Britni has five children with her ex-husband: Crizman, 15, Jordan, 14, Caleb, 13, Jace, 12, and Cadence, 10. When the couple ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ up in 2010, Britni enjoyed being single and spent her weekends partying, unexpectedly falling ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ with her sixth child, Jesalyn, now eight, in 2012. She spent three years raising her children alone as a single parent before meeting husband, Chris, a sub-contractor, at work in 2014.
The couple had their first son together, Silas, five, in summer 2015, a year after meeting, before Britni gave birth to son Christopher, three, in 2016 and surprise triplets Oliver, Asher and Abel, one, in June 2019. When Britni quit her factory job, she fell ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴛ with her 12th baby – and announced after the baby’s arrival that the family was going through 600 nappies a week.
Britni shares snapshots of life with her entourage of 11 on her Instagram page where she has gained more than 7,000 followers.
She said: “We get lots of stares when we go out as a family. We’ve had people buy the whole family dinner on multiple occasions because they’re so impressed how well behaved the kids are. If things go well, we hope to build a house in the country by a large pond as Chris loves fishing. We’d love to get some animals too. Maybe two dogs and a cat would be a good start.”