A 42-year-old woman loves being a mother so much that she plans to have an embryo implanted in June to be pregnant with her 14th child.
Stéphanie Philibert wants as much to have her 14th child as she wanted her first, born 22 years ago.
After having three children with a first spouse, she met Claude Nadeau and had 10 others with him.
The delivery of the youngest, Xavier, now 10 months old, was more difficult and required an emergency caesarean section.
The doctors removed the fallopian tubes, which meant she could not have children anymore.
“Two or three weeks after the Caesarean section, that’s when I realized that I could not have children anymore. For me, it was the end of the world. It had just fallen on my head. I experienced it as someone who wakes up more legs, “says Stéphanie Philibert.
Following the birth, she had depression and was percribed antidepressants.
“It’s not just the potbelly and pregnancy, it’s all together. For example, Xavier will take his first steps. This would be the last time I would live this, if I did not have others. It’s all mourning the last time I was not ready to live, “she says.
$20,000
The last option was in vitro fertilization, which will cost parents around $20,000 for two egg collection cycles. At this time, an embryo is frozen and the couple will try to fertilize other eggs in June, before implantation.
“I find others’ eyes difficult, they do not understand. If I try to talk to someone about it, I’m told that I should be happy, because I have 13. It’s like having more children reduces our desire to have one. another, “she said.
Eleven children still live with Stéphanie Philibert and Claude Nadeau in Princeville’s nine-bedroom home, which has only one bathroom.
At 4am each morning
The mother gets up at four o’clock every morning, so that she can combine the mountain of daily tasks with her part-time job as a waitress.
She sometimes works for lunch while the children are at school or daycare, sometimes for supper.
Claude Nadeau, 54, works in the field of refrigeration and air conditioning and finishes working at 3 pm to be at home when the children come back from school.
Overall family income is around $ 70,000 a year, with no government buffs.
Mr. Nadeau grew up in a large family and the routine of the bath, even alone, does not intimidate him.
“Of course there can be some discipline to do with 13 children. Sometimes, it gets bogged down. But there are some who do as much discipline with two children, “he notes.
What they said
“People think we’re more stuck than reality. We still have a big house and we have lots of rooms for everyone. We do not pile on our feet, and there are no swirls of children everywhere. ”
– Andréane, 20 years old.
“If you do not have much, you have nothing to do other than playing on the computer or on our tablet.”
– Justin, 8 years old.
“It allows me to play with them and teach them things.”
– Zacharie, age 11, about his younger siblings.
“Religion is not part of our life. Without saying that we are not believers, we do not practice either. ”
– Claude Nadeau, father
“I do not think it would be a gift for them to give them everything, even if they could have everything.”
– Stéphanie Philibert, mother
13 under one roof
4 liters of milk a day
$500 grocery per week
About forty washloads a week
Two dozen hot dogs or hamburgers for one meal
10 to 15 pounds of meat in a spaghetti sauce (for about 5 meals)
David Smith was born and raised in Calgary Alberta and loves to share his passion for health and fitness with others. Apart from running his own podcast, which uploads weekly shows that covers current health trends, he spends his time canoeing and backpacking. David recently spent a summer working at the CFIA as a health supplement reviewer. In regards to academics, David studied kinesiology at Guelph University.
