A couple who recently welcomed their 19th baby have admitted they have considered having another to “even out” the numbers.
Desiree Hart-Spegal, 35, has a giant blended family with her husband, Chris, 42, made up of 10 girls and nine boys. The pair have eight biological children together – Christa, eight, Izabella, seven, Christopher Jr, six, Lily, five, Heavenly-Grace, four, Elliesiah, three, Breiella, one and Zeke, who is six months old.
Desiree has three children from previous relationships – Maliki, 18, Makaila, 17, and Andrew, 10. Chris had eight children before meeting Desiree – Skyler, 21, Gavin, 20, Braden, 19, Kaden, 16, Jayden, 13, Sarayia, 13, and twins, Chevelle and Donny, 10.
But the couple, who own a car dealership together, don’t plan on stopping and Desiree who “enjoys pregnancy” wouldn’t say no to baby number 20.
Desiree, from Forth Worth, Texas, US, said: “We’re really fertile. We have 10 girls and nine boys. I’m open to having a twentieth baby – to make it even. I don’t mind having more.”
After meeting through mutual friends in October 2013, Desiree and Chris had a whirlwind romance and married in July 2014.
They started trying for a baby straight away and welcomed Christa, eight, in June 2015. The couple moved from a four-bedroom house to a 3,700 square foot property to make room for their growing family.
Now they all live together – apart from Gavin and Skyler who live in Spokane, Washington – in a six-bed house.
Two older boys share a room while three younger boys share another. They have an older girls room with three girls, a mid-aged girls room with three girls and a younger girls room with four girls.
Desiree, who shares her room with her husband and their baby, stays on top of her busy household by keeping organised.
She said: “I’m good at remembering dates and I’ll always be getting them to tidy up a few times a day, so it is not a mess at the end. At mealtimes I lay out all the plates in lines for the different age groups so I can easily dish out their portion sizes.”
The family had thought their “baby making season” was over after welcoming Briella in January 2022, but were delighted when they fell pregnant in December 2022.
They found out they were expecting a boy in January 2023. Desiree said: “We wanted another boy. We were super excited.”
Desiree loves being a mum of so many and never “slacks” to keep on top of it all. She said: “I’m better being a mum than preventing it. You can’t slack because it’s always overwhelming.”
Desiree thinks 2024 may bring another addition into their family – and she’s already been taking pregnancy tests. She said: “I love having so many children. We’re a perfectly imperfect blended family. We just keeping going and going.”
Chris said: “Now I do love everybody’s personality. All their different personalities and watching them grow. It’s my favourite. It’s really the greatest adventure of my life. I think of all of our lives. Let’s be honest, I’m beyond blessed.”
