Britain's biggest family, the Radfords, reveal name of 22nd child
Britain’s biggest family have revealed the name of their latest arrival, having chosen to call their 22nd child Heidie Rose.
Deciding on a baby name can be tricky for parents, so you can imagine how hard it is for Sue and Noel Radford who have had to make the choice nearly two dozen times.
The newest addition to the supersized family made her arrival on 3 April, weighing in at 7lbs (3.1kg), but though the family turned to Instagram to make the birth announcement, they also revealed they hadn’t yet decided on a moniker.
But over the weekend, the couple shared a video to their YouTube account of the chosen name –Heidie Rose – named after their eldest daughter’s middle name and Noel’s mother.
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The family enlisted the help of six of their children, who had to hunt for clues to create the letters of they youngest family members name.
“We are going to be filming the most anticipated vlog, I think, ever,” Sue revealed. “You have all been asking what little Miss Radford's name is.
“We are going to make it a bit of fun for the kids, so they are going to be revealing what this little beautiful girl is called.”
The video revealed the children solving clues and searching the house to find six letters of the baby’s name.
The children then came together in the garden before turning each letter around to reveal the name Heidie.
Later in the clip, Noel revealed the personal decision to choose Rose for the baby’s middle name.
“We picked Rose because Sophie our eldest daughter, her middle name is Rose, who was named after my mum – my mum’s middle name was Rose.
“The idea was we are finishing on a little girl, Heidie is our last daughter, so we have given her the middle name Rose - the same as Sophie.
“So we started on a Rose, and we are finishing on a Rose.”
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He went on to explain that choosing the name hadn’t been an easy task: “It has been hard work trying to agree on a name that will all love and she is the first one where she has been born without a name ready and picked for her.”
The littlest Radford joins siblings Chris, 30, Sophie, 26, Chloe, 24, Jack, 22, Daniel, 21, Luke, 19, Millie, 18, Katie, 17, James, 16, Ellie, 14, Aimee, 13, Josh, 12, Max, 11, Tillie, nine, Oscar, eight, Casper, seven, Hallie, four, Phoebe, three, Archie two, and Bonnie Raye, 17 months.
Tragically, one of the family’s children, named Alfie, was stillborn in 2014.
Sue told The Sun that baby Heidi is providing the family with some welcome distraction during coronavirus outbreak.
“She is the best distraction we could ask for,” she said.
“The kids are completely besotted with her. They all waited for a turn to have a cuddle with her when we first got home and they can’t put her down.
“We can’t register the birth because of coronavirus. The registry office is closed.”
She went on to reveal more about how the family decided on a name.
“We had to have the name ending in an ‘e’, like the other Radford girls.
“We liked Heidie when I was expecting Bonnie so it was always on the cards.
“The kids loved it the most, though, and that’s why we’ve chosen it. It really suits her.”
Earlier this year Sue revealed she was finding her 22nd pregnancy “stressful” as a result of a the position of her unborn baby's placenta.
At the time she was 26 weeks into her pregnancy and revealed she had an anterior placenta, which means the placenta sits in front of the baby rather than behind.
