Patty and her husband, Carlos, really love children. They’ve got 16 of them and are expecting their 17th in March 2023. Of their 16 kids, there are three sets of twins, and the majority of the kids are born less than a year apart. CRAZY!!
Her oldest child is 14 and her youngest is 1. Many of the kids are the same age even though they aren’t twins (Irish twins).
And, get this, all of them have names starting with C!
16 kids in 14 yearsÂ
First, there are the tweens and teens – Carlos Jr, 14. Next, we have Christopher, 13, and Carla and Caitlyn are 11.
Next, we’ve got the primary school crew – Cristian and Celeste are 10, Cristina is 9, and Calvin and Catherine are 7. Caleb and Carolina are both 5.
Moving on to the kids still at home – Camilla and Caroll are both 4 and Charlotte is 3. Then there’s Crystal, 2 and the current baby of the family, Clayton, is 1. Baby #17 is a boy.
Patty and Carlos live in North Carolina with their large crew and admit that, after their 17th baby, they won’t be stopping just yet. Patty, who is 40, would love to have 20 babies and is hoping to have a few more boys to make it an even 10 boys and 10 girls.
The couple does not use contraception and is beyond grateful that they are able to be parents to so many children. Patty also admits that the local nurses at the hospital knew her pretty well by now.
“They were like, ‘You were here last year, we see you every year’,” she said.
That’s because, for the past 14 years, Patty has been pregnant. She is literally the Mother of Pregnancy.
She admits she usually falls pregnant around three months after giving birth and that she’s always overjoyed by the news. However, amazingly enough, before her first pregnancy (in 2008), she and Carlos tried to fall pregnant unsuccessfully for two years.
16… and pregnant againÂ
What’s life like for a pregnant mumma and her 16 kids, all under the age of 14?
Their day starts around 8am when Patty prepares a mammoth breakfast for everyone. It’s either cereal, waffles, or pancakes and, although she doesn’t specify how many pancakes she needs to make, we’re guessing it’s into the hundreds!
After brekky it’s time for Christian Devotional which includes praying, singing, and reading together.
Then, time to make and pack 11 school lunches and head to the school drop-off lineup. Patty loads up her minibus of kids and sends the older ones on their way. She then returns home with her younger crew – which includes 5 kids (piece of cake, right??!).
At home, she somehow manages to tidy up, do chores AND entertain five children. She also attends appointments and runs errands and brings them with her.
“I try to do everything while they are at school because that’s when I have the most free time.”
After school, the older kids do their homework or study and usually make their way home around 6pm. Patty uses the afternoon to take a nap and go to the hair salon. No, just kidding, she spends this time preparing dinner. They eat around 6pm all together at the table, before the kids play and head to bed around 8:30pm.
The family lives in a five-bedroom home and the older kids have bunk beds while the younger ones have cribs in a nursery.
In addition to raising a classroom full of kids, the pair also own a commercial cleaning business.
Life with 16 kids.. in numbers
- 20 – the number of seats in the family’s vehicle which happens to be a mini-bus.
- $895 – the amount of money she spends on food alone. This was actually the cost she quoted a few years ago, so we can imagine it’s doubled with the increase in cost of groceries now.
- 1,000 – the average number of pieces of clothing she washes every week. She does laundry four days a week.
- 5 hours – the amount of time it takes for her to fold the weekly laundry.
- Every day – how often Patty and Carlos have sex, according to the couple.Â
Patty admits that some people judge her on her family choices but she doesn’t care. She’s happy, the kids are happy and that’s what matters.
“I have been pregnant for 14 years so I feel blessed, happy, excited and happy to be chosen to have my 17th baby,” she said.
Big families, bigger love
Check out a few of our other featured families with plenty of kids and love:
