Kelly Bates and her husband Gil welcomed 19 children over 24 years, with 14 of those births taking place at home with no pain relief. A family with 19 kids has revealed the mammoth quantities of food they buy in their weekly shop and how they make ends meet. The Bates Family – consisting of ten girls and nine boys in Lake City, Tennessee – have their own reality TV show titled Bringing Up Bates, which first aired in 2015.
In just weeks to come, the supersize family’s show’s 10th season will premiere on UPtv. The supermom and her husband Gil, a tree surgeon, welcomed their latest (and perhaps last) arrival in 2012 when Kelly was 45 years old – by which point she’d spent more of her adult life pregnant than not. Back in 2011, their son Lawson, now 28, revealed to ABC News he was the family’s designated grocery shopper. “Nobody else likes to do it, and I don’t mind, so it works out pretty good,” he told the news outlet about the grocery trips which can total around $375. Gil also admitted the family doesn’t use food stamps.
The dad-of-19 explained: “I don’t take anything from the government. “We probably qualify for a lot of things but … I don’t want to be a burden on everybody else.” “They do take full advantage of the U.S. tax code, claiming all 18 deductions. “That’s a wonderful thing. America’s a great place to live.” At that time it was reported the family consumes seven gallons of milk and nine bread loaves every week. During a time of a sibling’s birthday, Lawson revealed he purchases four cartons of ice cream and two boxes of cake mix.
However, the family’s typical weekly grocery list consists of up to six supersize bags of cereal, seven gallons of milk, two pounds of sandwich meat for every lunch, and four to six packs of paper plates daily. The Bates Family, which was featured on ABC’s “Primetime Nightline’s (Extra)Ordinary Family ” special approximately 10 years ago, also revealed to order around eight to 10 pies on pizza night. For the whole family to eat one breakfast, they need up to four packages of turkey bacon, two to three dozen eggs, and 40 biscuits. With such a gargantuan family, everything in the Bates’ household is done on a large scale. Their big five-bedroom home in Tennessee has five washing machines, three driers and long rails for their hundreds of items of clothing. Which, unlike most of us with our oversized wardrobes, they actually need – a simple two-day camping trip means bringing 56 outfits
The Christian couple ban TV, limit internet access, and keep their household running smoothly by insisting on teamwork. Kelly has assigned each of the older children to a younger kid. She told ABC News years ago: “They get themselves ready first. “They help make sure that their partner has their hair brushed, shoes on, and their teeth brushed.” The children are also responsible for making sure their room is tidy, and they’re each given a task that’s rotated monthly.