‘We do want to adopt ourselves,’ Noel says, as if a 16th child would be no great strain. ‘I just like the fact that we’re both adopted and that we could help somebody.’ ‘And I would like another one of our own,’ Sue adds. Are you serious, I ask. When? ‘Oh, perhaps in the spring,’ she replies. She is going back on the contraceptive pill in the next couple of months, she says, as she always does after delivering her babies, but her GP always says to her, ‘Three months’ supply, Mrs Radford?’ and she nods and they both know she won’t be back.

Then, like clockwork, her name will appear on the maternity admissions board at the local hospital and the midwives will fight over who delivers her baby (always induced two weeks early now after she nearly had Katy in the car). She is a familiar face on the labour ward. ‘This time, one called another one over and they peered at my stomach. No stretch marks and completely toned,’ Sue says proudly. No matter what, Sue always finds time to do her tummy exercises and her pelvic floor exercises, either first thing in the morning or during the babies’ nap time. Sue does look amazing. ‘It’s all the babies!’ Katy chips in.

From the Daily Telegraph