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Unit 11

The World's Biggest Family

Mr. and Mrs. Albina don't know where all their grown-up children are living now. They aren't sure how old all their children are either. Ask them, for example, "How old is your daughter Susanna?" and they say, "We're not sure." They might even ask, "Which Susanna?" But it is understandable that the Albinas can't keep track of their children's addresses and ages. After all, they have 53 kids. Mr. and Mrs. Albina, with 53 kids, have the world's largest family. Not one of their children are adopted.

"How is it possible? How can one woman give birth to 53 kids in her lifetime?" The answer is simple: Every time Mrs. Albina gave birth, she had twins or triplets. She was a triplet herself.

The Albinas married when Mrs. Albina was 12 years old and Mr. Albina was 30, and they spent the early years of their marriage in Argentina. Then they decided to move to Chile. To travel from Argentina to Chile, they had to cross the Andes Mountains. They and their 20 sons made the difficult two-week journey on mules. One night there was a terrible snowstorm in the mountains. During the storm, Mrs. Albina gave birth to triplets, a boy and two girls.

Mrs. Albina now has 16 more girls, including the twins who are 15 months old. The oldest Albina children are in their 30s and 40s. They're on their own now, but 18 of the kids still live with their parents in a two-room hut. The ut has electricity but no toilet or running water. Obviously the Albinas don't have enough money and food for the big family. Why, then, do they continue to have children?

The Albinas do not use birth control because it is against their religion. They could let other people take care of their kids, but Mrs. Albina doesn't allow it. "When my two brothers and I were babies," she says, "our mother left us at an orphanage and never returned. Then a couple adopted my brothers, and I was left behind. I was heartbroken. I promised myself that when I became a mother I would never give my children away."

So the Albina family continues to grow. They have so many kids that they run out of names for them all and had to give some children the same name. There are three Susannas, three Miriams, two Estrellas, and two Soledades.

Will the family stop at 53 kids, or will there be more? Mr. Albina is 77 years old, and Mrs. Albina is 59. "I'm getting old," she says with a smile. "I would like God to think of me and consider my age. But if God sends more children to me, yes, there will be more."