TLC’s Jon and Kate may have eight, but Livia and Alexandru have 18.
Livia Ionce, a 44-year-old Romanian immigrant who lives in British Columbia, last week gave birth to her 18th child, making her the province’s most prolific mother in two decades.
The latest Ionce, daughter Abigail, weighed seven pounds, 12 ounces when she was born. Both mother and child are doing well.
“We never planned how many children to have. We just let God guide our lives, you know, because we strongly believe life comes from God and that’s the reason we did not stop the life,” said proud dad Alexandru Ionce, 51.
The couple immigrated to Canada from Romania in 1990 and now live in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Their other kids range in age from 20 months to 23 years old.
Alexandru, who works in construction, said he did not know if the couple would have more children. The family now has 10 girls and eight boys.
“We would have liked a boy to be even,” he said. “We thank God all of them are healthy and happy.”
Abigail is sleeping well, Alexandru added, waking at about 5 a.m. each day for a feeding. Lucky for the busy parents, only a few of the kids have been finicky sleepers
“We have just a few of them … two or three of them woke up during the night. Otherwise we had no problem, you know. Each three hours, they wake up, get food and go back to sleep,” Aledandru told The Canadian Press.
The family has received calls from Germany, Romania and England, as well as from media outlets across Canada. One TV station even suggested doing a documentary. While that idea amused Alexandru, he said he doubts his family holds any record titles.
“I think we are not the largest” family in the world, he said.
