Dad-of-22 Noel Radford defends getting wife pregnant at 13

Sue and Noel Radford have been married 31 years – but finding fame with their large family has exposed the young age Sue first became a mum.

There is never a right time to start a family, with most couples agonising over the decision for months – if not years.

But parents of Britain’s biggest family Sue and Noel Radford had a rather different start, as the couple found out they were pregnant when they were just teens.

Decades on, 53-year-old Noel has spoken about the moment he discovered he was going to be a dad aged just 17, The Sun

Whilst most boys his age were planning weekends away, he and then-13-year-old Sue were figuring out how to change nappies and put together prams.

Sue, now 48, was three years below the age of the consent at the time, but Noel has revealed there was “no knock on the door” from authorities regarding her pregnancy.

Sue and Noel Radford have 22 kids. Picture: Instagram

Back in 1989, and as the law is today in the UK, it is an offence for anyone to have any sexual activity with a person under the age of 16.

Meanwhile the legal age for consensual sex varies between 16 and 17 years across Australian state and territory jurisdictions.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service – the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales – doesn’t always pursue prosecutions against teenagers in these circumstances.

It is still illegal for a person aged 18 or over to have any sexual activity with a person younger than 16.

Sue and Noel were in a loving relationship at the time of their pregnancy, which has blossomed into a 31 year marriage.

But as they released their new book, The Radfords: Making Life Count, Noel has addressed the criticism they face and defended starting a family at such a young age.

“We were both kids,” he penned. “It was not as if I was 10 or 15 years older than Sue.

“For a lot of people, though, things are just black and white and you are tarnished with the same brush as other people in totally different situations.

“We were young and we were daft.

“But we wanted to continue as a couple.”

The family appeared on 22 Kids and Counting. Picture: Channel 5

As they became TV personalities with multiple documentaries about their big brood, the speculation about their early lives together grew – especially as Sue had been under the age of consent at the time.

Having both been adopted, the couple were eager to raise their little one together with Noel even dropping out of college and working in a supermarket to support his family.

Meanwhile, Sue was homeschooled briefly before returning for year 10 and finished her GCSEs, the compulsory exams British children sit before finishing school.

They even got special permission from the vicar to marry in 1992 when Sue was 17, with her dad making the request on the teen’s behalf.

Despite how young they were, the couple also weren’t in trouble with the authorities either.

“There was no knock on the door saying I was in big trouble,” Noel joked, although he did admit that Sue’s teen pregnancy was logged by medics at the time.

The family recently celebrated Christmas together Picture: Instagram

“I think someone, somewhere may have had to report it, the doctor maybe, but there weren’t any repercussions,” the pie shop owner explained, quipping that it was “down to your mums and dads” back then.

Whilst the family have enjoyed their fame, their unusual start has made them the target of trolls which have “affected their kids” – particularly their eldest, Chris.

Noel revealed: “Some of the comments from people were brutal – that I should have been arrested and things like that. Even though I was just 17 – still a kid, including in the eyes of the law.

“But it doesn’t bother me. People will say what they like. I don’t care what they say.”

The family are promoting their book. Picture: Supplied

“There has been a lot of focus on it and, in a way, it was probably worse for us than when it actually happened,” he candidly admitted, adding: “So many people have given their opinions.”

The couple are now grandparents to 14 children thanks to some of their brood also having kids young.

Their seventh child Millie welcomed her first child Ophelia Jo, three, aged 19 in 2020. The 21-year-old has since welcomed a son named Chester Bleu, one, and Elodie, five months.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and reproduced with permission