Worlds biggest families - polygamous dad of 94 kids and mum who cooks 56 sausages for tea

Ever struggled to juggle the school run, mealtimes and chasing after the kids' muddy washing? Spare a thought for these very ambitious families.

This week, the parents of Australia's largest brood, who boast no less than 16 children, admitted they want even more kids.

Jeni Bonell and husband Ray, from Queensland, have a hefty family consisting of nine sons and seven daughters, aged between six and 31.

Answering questions from fans on YouTube, Jeni admitted: "We are very happy with what we've got, we are very open to having more.

"Eventually, age and that next season of life will prevent that, but there is always hope."

Incredibly, the Bonells still have some way to go to catch the biggest families around the world - including the man who had no less than 94 kids.

The Chanas

If dinner time is mad in your house, imagine the mayhem when this lot are hungry.

Ziona Chana, formerly the head of the world's largest family, passed away aged 76 in June, leaving behind a clan of 181 members.

Ziona Chana died this year, leaving behind a clan of 181 members ( Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

Due to his polygamous lifestyle, this included 39 wives, 94 children, 14 daughters-in-law and 33 grandkids.

Despite having his hands more than a little full, Ziona previously insisted he felt blessed.

“I consider myself a lucky man to be the husband of 39 women and head of the world’s largest family," he said.

Life at the family’s 100-room, four-storey house in Baktwang, India, is run with military precision, with first wife Zathiangi, 71, organising all the others when it comes to domestic chores.

She said: “I am the eldest and have been married to Ziona the longest. Everyone in the family respects me.”

There was also a rota system when it came to who shared Ziona’s double bed â€" the other 38 wives had to make do with the communal dormitories.

Son Parliana, 50, said his dad â€" who belonged to a sect which allows men to have multiple wives â€" got married so many times so he could look after poor and orphaned village women.

He said: “He’s not just head of this house but also the leader of 4,000 people of the Chana sect.”

The Radfords

With dozens of hungry mouths to feed, it’s no wonder the Radfords â€" who have an almost unimaginable 22 children â€" have seen their food bills rocket by more than £100 a week.

On average, Britain's largest family consumes 16 pints of milk and four loaves of bread a day, and 24 toilet rolls, three tubes of toothpaste and 80 yoghurts a week.

The Radfords have an incredible 22 children ( theradfordfamily /Instagram)

And if they decide to serve up sausages for dinner, they need to put 56 of them under the grill.

Parents Sue and Noel told the Mirror that lockdown proved both chaotic and challenging â€" even without their eldest kids Chris and Sophie under their roof.

“You do feel like you are going a bit crazy because there are so many in the house,” explained Sue.

“The weather has been awful recently so there isn’t a lot you can do. You can’t escape either, as there is not a quiet place at home!”

Noel runs a successful pie firm and employs daughter Chloe to help â€" providing the much-needed funds to pay for the huge family’s extortionate costs.

“I have found it hard buying all the food with people thinking we are greedy,” Sue adds.

“They think you are stockpiling. We have never once done that.”

UK's worst shark attacks - Mini Jaws, battle with 'The Beast' and deadly 'torpedo' Drooling Prince Philip, dim Harry and mafia Queen - controversial 'stars' of The Prince

Like millions of other parents, the trials and tribulations of home-schooling were a challenge.

Sitting the six children of secondary school age around the 14-seat dining room table and the five at primary school in the kitchen at the 10-bedroom family home in Morecambe, Lancs, is not always easy.

“We’ve got Heidie, who is 10 months, and quite a few toddlers so I am going in so many different directions when the kids are asking, ‘What’s this, Mum?’" said Sue.

“Trying to look after them has been hard. I have felt like saying, ‘Alexa, can you home-school the children?!’ We have also had to buy James, Ellie, Aimee, Katie and Josh an iPad each."

So how does she try and discipline them?

“I must admit I don’t like to be constantly shouting at the kids,” Sue said. “I am not that kind of parent and I do tend to let a lot go over our heads.”

The Duggars

Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their enormous family of 19 children had been stars of a popular TV series - 19 Kids and Counting - for years before they were rocked by a series of scandals.

The show was eventually cancelled, but it had brought this devout independent Christian Baptist family and some of their controversial habits to the attention of the world.

The Duggars had their own TV show which shone a light on their strict religious upbringing ( Getty Images for Extra)

As well as giving all the kids names beginning with J, the couple make their brood follow a series of strict rules at the family home in Arkansas.

One of the rules is no kissing until marriage. As a sign of not giving into temptation and keeping themselves pure for their partner, any form of intimacy is strictly not allowed.

“We want to save the physical side of our relationship for our wedding day and not go further than we should,” daughter Jill Duggar told People during her engagement.

What that also means is that during the 'courting' phase, chaperones are expected to keep a watchful eye when the Duggars meet with potential partners.

However, once an engagement had been arranged the couple are allowed to hold hands.

While frontal hugs are banned for couples that are courting until their wedding day, this also appears to apply to their own family members.

Several scenes in the now-axed show featured the family exchanging side-hugs with their siblings and parents.

As expected in an ultra-religious setting like the Duggar family, everyone is expected to wear very modest outfits.

Most cursed films of all time - The Exorcist horrors, grim decapitation, gun prop disaster

This also means that the girls of the family never reveal their shoulders and stop short of wearing shorts and pants or skirts and dresses above the knee.

However, in 2012, Jill penned a blog post in which she claimed that her kid's modest clothing wasn't all her doing.

She wrote: “Because our family is so open and honest in our discussions, I find that my daughters are even more careful with their appearances. Their modesty is their own.

"They own it themselves. I’m not the one telling them what to wear … They have to work it out in their own hearts and do what they feel is right.”

In recent years, several elder Duggar daughters have defied any guidelines and been spotted wearing jeans and vest tops as they step away from their family.

The Bonells

Jeni Bonell has previously shared how she spends £243 a week on food for her 16 children.

The Aussie family regularly share insights into their hectic life on Instagram and YouTube, with Jeni saying she’s "blessed" to have so many kids.

The Bonnells spent £243 a week on food for their 16 children ( facebook./TheBonellFamily)

In June she revealed how she treated her husband and children to breakfast for dinner, consisting of scrambled eggs, toast, baked beans and bacon.

The feast was made up of 36 eggs, endless tins of beans and several loaves of bread.

The plan wasn't always to have quite so many mouths to feed, with the mum admitting she was initially taken aback when husband Ray suggested having four kids.

“Ray wanted at least four kids. I thought that was crazy. Like, who has that many children?” she told Mamamia.

“I agreed to have one, maybe two kids, but it was actually me who asked for number three because I loved being a mum so much.”

Answering how the couple met, they said they were out dancing and a song came on Jeni liked so she propositioned her future husband to dance and 'the rest is history.'

The couple, from the coastal state of Queensland, have been married for 32 years, she added.

Asked about pregnancy she said she always enjoyed it and that it had been part of the reason they had so many children.

'Time traveller' TikTok's warped predictions - 'Big Blackout', extinction... and Euro 2020

Talking about why they had so many children Jeni said: "It's fun.

"There are a lot of sacrifices that come with having a family this size, but for us, it's right. For a lot of other people it might not be.

"But we put 100 per cent into raising our kids and into our family life so for us it's perfect."

Previously, Jeni shared a photo of a big family takeaway evening which saw them order four large family bundle meals from Australian chain Hungry Jacks.

This included eight beef flame-grilled Whoppers, eight cheeseburgers, 40 chicken nuggets, 16 fries and 16 soft drinks. The slap-up meal cost $131.80 (£70).

The Blackmores

Brothers from a group of 150 siblings lifted the lid earlier this year on their life growing up as part of a polygamous cult.

The Blackmore family are part of a religious group in British Columbia, led by Winston Blackmore, who has 150 children and at one point had up to 27 wives.

The Blackmore family is part of a controversial polygamous religious group ( https://www.tiktok.com@merlins.life)

Merlin Blackmore, 19, was born to the man dubbed 'Canada's most famous polygamist', and since leaving the community has built up a huge TikTok following, sharing tales of his unusual childhood.

In one video, he explained family birthdays had to be a more close-knit affair, rather than inviting more than a hundred relatives.

'It wasn't like 150 people show up to every person's birthday party. It was more as your closest friends and the kids that closest to you in age," he said.

'It was mainly your biological siblings that came and got your birthday presents and your closest friends.

'Sometimes if there were a whole bunch of birthdays close together we would celebrate them as one big birthday party, but that didn't happen very often.

"For the most part, each kid would celebrate his birthday as any kid around the world would."

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon8Cancel

His brother Warren also explained his father's mind-boggling collection of wives - and said he even went to school with his nephews.

"This is pretty wild, but my father had 27 wives at one point. There were six different groups of sisters.

'There was two groups of three different sisters and there was four groups of four different sisters from another family.

"I had five brothers, four sisters, seven cousins and two nephews in my class. I went to school with my nephews, we were the same age."

In 2018, Winston was sentenced to six months under house arrest after being found guilty of polygamy.

Nine of his wives were under the age of 18, and four were 15 when he wed them, according to the Edmonton Sun.

"I'm guilty of living my religion and that's all I'm saying today because I've never denied that," Blackmore said after the verdict, reported CBC News.

"Twenty seven years and tens of millions of dollars later, all we've proved is something we've never denied.

"I've never denied my faith. This is what we expected."

The 61-year-old was joined in court by James Oler, who was part of the same religious sect.

Oler was found guilty of polygamy by having five wives, one who was 15 and another who had turned 17 at the time of the marriages.

Judge Sheri Ann Donegan described the men as otherwise law-abiding citizens who practise polygamy because of religious beliefs.

Under Canadian law, the maximum penalty for polygamy is five years in jail.

Marriage proposals gone very wrong - cringe rejections, ukulele fight, house fire disaster Simpsons predictions that came true - Branson in space, Game of Thrones, President Trump

Share this post