00:00I gave birth to four babies at the age of 50.
00:02I wanted twins, ended up having quadruplets.
00:05We're all six.
00:06Same birthdays and we're born in all together.
00:10My quadruplets are actually younger than some of my grandkids.
00:13I was getting messages, why would you want kids at 50?
00:17You're never going to see your kids grow up.
00:19We've asked the audience what they think of parents having children in their 50s.
00:23Could you respond to their comments?
00:25Okey dokey.
00:26Very selfish to try and have a baby at 50.
00:29Come and look at my kids and then say it's selfish.
00:31Because there's no selfish about it.
00:33Somebody get daddy the cheese please.
00:35The cheese.
00:38What's your favourite food?
00:39Cheese.
00:40Cheese?
00:42You like little mice.
00:44Yum yum.
00:46I'm Britain's oldest mum with quadruplets and I'm 57 years old.
00:51Who likes helping mummy?
00:53Me.
00:54I have six year old quadruplets.
00:57Francesca, Frederica, Grace and George.
01:01I would describe my family as happy, loud, crazy, chaos.
01:11Why have we gone up in the morning?
01:13He's got what?
01:15It's probably a quiet day, isn't it?
01:16This is an easy one so far.
01:19This is an easy one.
01:19It's going to be a lot of madness.
01:22Right, get your balls.
01:23Do you want to go and set the table?
01:25When did you have your first three children?
01:28So I had my daughter in 1986 when I was 18.
01:32Then I got pregnant again straight after three months later with my son.
01:36I just turned 19 and I had my youngest son in 1996 when I was 28.
01:43Because they've got their own kids, my quadruplets are actually younger than some of my grandkids.
01:48We set the table up.
01:50We set the table up.
01:51Oh, have you set it?
01:52Yes.
01:53Oh, let me see.
01:55Let's have a look.
01:56Great.
02:00Well done.
02:00You know, there are times where it's hard work and you think, oh my god, what have I done?
02:09As I'm older, they give me more energy.
02:11All my energy goes into them.
02:13What do you love most about your sisters and brother?
02:18My sisters and brother are fun and really kind.
02:26Who's the best cook?
02:27Mummy or Daddy?
02:28Daddy.
02:33Now George doesn't like noise.
02:35Come on.
02:37What do you say?
02:38Daddy.
02:43So I met Stephen where we used to live in Camden and we just used to know like the same group of people.
02:48So it was like familiar faces and we just used to say hi.
02:51And then, yeah, it went from there.
02:53I think he was 26 and I was 37.
02:56But he looked older than me, so I allowed it.
03:01He always wanted a big family.
03:03I already had three kids, so I didn't want any.
03:05And the funny thing was, I said I wanted five kids.
03:08Do you remember?
03:09Yeah.
03:10I said I wanted five kids.
03:10I already had one.
03:12So five was the number I said.
03:13Always said.
03:14Just couldn't conceive, could we, for a while?
03:16Yeah.
03:17And it was just, harm was just ticking.
03:18So I was just worried about getting too old and not happening.
03:22I always wanted twins.
03:23I've always been fascinated with twins.
03:25I think it's because my mum always wanted twins.
03:28I always get emotional when I think about my mum.
03:32Because if it were, if it were, I wouldn't have been able to do it.
03:36She died in 2007, so I used my mum's money to do it.
03:41And I went for IVF.
03:42I just had a feeling deep down it was going to work.
03:44And I just knew it would happen.
03:47And she blessed me with four.
03:51Do you dress the quality matching outfits?
03:53Yeah, all the time.
03:55So, for instance, we have these.
03:59And then we have these.
04:02When I got pregnant, I remember me and Stephen was in bed and I got the test.
04:06And it just went pregnant.
04:08And I went, and we both just went, and we just hugged each other.
04:11And, you know, crying and laughing and joyful.
04:15And then reality struck in.
04:17And I thought, oh my God, I forgot to tell my kids now.
04:20Yeah, so.
04:22My daughter said, oh, mum, you might have twins, because she looked big already.
04:26I think I was like nine weeks.
04:28And she said, I'll take it for a private scan.
04:30The woman was scanning me and I'm laid on the bed.
04:33She went, let's all calm down.
04:34I'm going to put a fan on.
04:36She put the fan on and she went, there's actually four.
04:39Well, I started crying by this time.
04:41And then straight away, I thought to my mum again,
04:44because she had seven kids.
04:45And I thought, oh, my mum's done it again.
04:47My daughter went, that's what you get, mum.
04:50Nana's done that.
04:51It wasn't like tears of, oh my God, what am I going to do?
04:55It was just shock, because I weren't expecting four.
04:59There are good and bad things about raising quadruplets.
05:02I mean, the good thing is they've got each other.
05:04They can play with each other.
05:06If I had to put some bad points is, you know, the arguing and the scribbling and
05:11getting up really early when, you know, at times I could do the lying.
05:15But I chose to have them.
05:17So, yeah, you've got, I just go along with it and do my best what I can.
05:22Who's the oldest mum in the UK to ever have had quadruplets?
05:26When did you decide to start sharing your life on social media?
05:30When it went worldwide, my sister-in-law said to me,
05:34why don't you go to the newspapers?
05:35And I said, oh, no, I want to keep it private.
05:38She went, why?
05:38She went, if that was a young girl, she went, they'd be interested in that.
05:43So rather than go to a newspaper, I rang an agent up.
05:46I didn't realise I was the oldest mum in the UK just to say,
05:49I'm pregnant with quadruplets.
05:51Do you want the story?
05:52And then my daughter rang me up and she went, mum, what have you done?
05:55And I went, why?
05:56She went, you in every single newspaper.
05:58Do not read the comments.
06:00Do not read the comments.
06:01What are you going to do straight away?
06:03Read the comments.
06:03Why would somebody want kids at 50?
06:05Why did she have them when she was younger?
06:07I'm used to it now.
06:08But then I thought, I can't stress because I'm carrying four babies.
06:11I knew if I stressed out, you know, something could happen
06:14and I just wanted to protect the babies.
06:16After I'd had the kids, I made an Instagram page.
06:20With TikTok, I just started sharing it like about a month ago.
06:24Not long back, somebody messaged me on TikTok saying,
06:27why would you want kids at 50?
06:29And I said, why not?
06:30That shut them up.
06:31It made them feel guilty for asking the question in the first place.
06:34We've asked the audience what they think of parents having children in their 50s.
06:39Could you respond to their comments?
06:40It's okie dokie.
06:42Women can have children whenever they desire.
06:45As long as they, in brackets, and the father can provide for them.
06:49The answer is yeah, we can.
06:51That's grandma right there.
06:53Yep, that's grandma right here.
06:56I'm a grandma of 12 grandkids and proud of it too.
07:00There's so many things that can be wrong with the baby for having it so old.
07:07It's not fair to the child and who will care for it once you pass away.
07:11Why does everybody always bother about you passing away?
07:14Very selfish to try and have a baby at 50.
07:17Well, whoever that sent you this message wants to come and have a day in our lives and see if they'll
07:23change their attitude because there's no selfish about it.
07:27Come and look at my kids and then say it's selfish.
07:30Simple as that to that one.
07:31I can understand I'm putting my business out on social media so people have a right to respond
07:37and have their say but don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge me before you've even met me.
07:42Whoever can jump the highest.
07:46Those people that judge us, what can we say to them?
07:49Try putting themselves in our shoes.
07:50Yeah, come and see before you judge.
07:55Come and watch them play.
07:56I'll try and discipline and teach my kids to be as mellow and as nice and kind as possible.
08:03I just want them to be happy and content and just stay grounded.
08:07What do we hope the future holds for the family?
08:11What do you think?
08:11Happiness and success.
08:13Success.
08:14And a long life.
08:15And stability and a long life.
08:17And a quiet life.
08:17And quiet with it.
08:23So if you had to describe the family in one word, what would it be?
08:25Mental.
08:28Local.
08:29Mental or loud.
08:30That's two words.
08:31Mental or loud.
08:33Still say words.
08:34Local.
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