Despite her husband’s desire to add more children to their family, a mother of 12 who has been pregnant intermittently for 17 years has disclosed she is finally done having children.
Britni Church, 33, of Arkansas City, Kansas, was 16 years old when she gave birth to her first child in 2004, and she gave birth to three more children between the ages of 17 and 19.
In her twenties, she had four more children, and at age 30, she gave birth to triplets. She gave birth to her 12th child last year, at age 32.
“I think I’m done,” Church told Today with a chuckle, though she acknowledged that her husband, Chris, 30, would be delighted to have more children.
They share seven-year-old Silas, five-year-old Christopher Jr., three-year-old triplets Oliver, Asher, and Abel, and one-year-old Rowyn.
Church also has six elder children from two prior unions: Crizman, 17, Jordan, 16, Caleb, 14, Jace, 13, Cadence, 12, and Jesalyn, 10.
Before she met Chris at work in 2014, she had spent three years rearing five children on her own.
Crizman, her eldest child, graduated from high school a month ago and is older than her youngest sibling.
Church, who has seven boys and five girls, has been expectant for an approximate total of 98 months, or nearly 11 years.
“Except for the triplets, all of the births were vaginal,” she explained.
And although she does not intend to have any more children, she believes she could sustain a healthy pregnancy if she decided to attempt for baby number 13.
Church chronicles her family life on her TikTok account @ourlargefamilylife, which has over 1.8 million followers.
She told Today that people are fascinated by large families, and in many of her videos, she responds to queries from viewers varying from what kind of vehicle they drive to how much they spend on groceries.
Chris constructed a 12-seat dining table for the family, and each child shares a room in their five-bedroom house.
After the birth of their triplets, they purchased a Ford Transit with 15 seats for traveling as a group. Nevertheless, if Church has only a few children with her, she will elect to drive their Honda Pilot SUV.
According to the mother, her children consume two liters of milk per day, which costs them approximately $200 per month, in addition to other food expenses.
Last month, Church went viral after posting a video detailing the ages she was between 16 and 32 when she gave birth.
Many commentators are impressed by the mother, but she must also contend with online trolls who humiliate her for having so many children.
In a recent video, she enumerated some of the vicious criticisms she has received on social media, including accusations ranging from welfare dependency to proliferation.
I used to care a great deal about what others thought of me. She captioned the video, “Don’t let their cruel words affect you.” “Be an individual who propagates positivity!”
Church told Today that many people make inferences about her sizable family because she has 12 children.
“Many people assume we’re on welfare, but we’re not,” she said. I am frequently asked, “Are you a Christian? Are you religious?” I’m Pentecostal, but that has nothing to do with why I have so many possessions.
The mother added that she has no misgivings about having such a large family, stating, ‘We are happiest when we’re all together.’