I can't imagine having to buy Christmas gifts for all of them! Let alone remembering names.... :D

Brenda

Sacramento Family Claims Title of Nation's Largest

A Sacramento family may have a very valid argument for being the largest family in the U.S. The Chernenkos just had their 17th child.

A great deal of media attention has been focused lately on the Duggar family in Arkansas. They have 16 children and say they could have more. However, the Chernenkos, who came from the Ukraine, have had 17 children in 24 years of marriage.

"When we got married, it was back in the Ukraine," Vladimir Chernenko said to News10 through a translator. "In six months, we didn't have any children, and I didn't think we'd be having any children at all!"

That all soon changed. Twenty-two-year-old Sergey was the first child born to the couple. He soon got plenty of company. The Chernenkos have had a child nearly every year since.

Large families with eight or 10 children are not uncommon in the Ukraine, so the Chernenkos don't really see their brood as particularly unusual. They say there are plenty of voices to fill out a family choir, one of the family's pastimes.

Chernenko supports his family working as a security guard and maintenance man. The family car is a 15-seat passenger van. No one has to share a bed, and the children seem to appreciate the advantages of having plenty of brothers and sisters. "It's a lot of fun," said 16-year-old Ludya. "You're never bored. You always have someone to talk with."

The Chernenkos family is made up of father Vladimir and mother Zynaida, 22-year-old Sergey; 21-year-old Lilia, 19-year-old Andrey, 18-year-old Dmitry, 17-year-old Anatoly, 16-year-old Lyudma, 15-year-old Anna, 13-year-old Vitaly, 12-year-old Oksana, 10-year-old Svetlana, 9-year-old Inna, 8-year-old Vyacheslav, 6-year-old Paul, 5-year-old Diana, 4-year-old Alina, 2-year-old Timothy, and 8-day-old David.

Zynaida Chernenko described their children as a gift and the source of their happiness. She declined to say if there'll be more babies.

The parents added that their older children are a great big help.