My Grandmother had 17 but 2 sets of twins died at a very young age....less than a year old I am told. 13 raised during the depression with only 4 left living including my Mom.
Wow. My grandmother was one of 11...she was the only girl. I don’t know if she appreciated all the cooking, darning, etc. that she had to do for those brothers of hers! However, I must say that she was the most talented homemaker I’ve ever known - she could make anything from anything.
That’s amazing. My grandmother was one of 8 raised during the Depression, only 1 left. These families survived by sheer will.
When you got my gram and her siblings together they’d joke around about onion sandwiches for dinner and cabbage soup for breakfast. My great-gran was a Ukrainian immigrant that was widowed when she was pregnant with the 8th kid, otherwise I am sure there would have been more.
My grandparents kept a hospital in their house in the 30’s and 40’s, in rural Missouri. It was unfortunately common for twins not to survive. A little smaller and weaker, a week or two earlier delivery ...
I’m so happy I’m having children now!