Mother expecting baby number 13 – but how will she cope with her growing brood?

With a brood of 12 children already, aged between 20 years and 7 months old, Tania is most definitely a full-time mum.

Speaking to a **UK newspaper, she said: "I always wanted a lot of children, maybe six, but I never thought I'd end up with double that!"

So how do Tania and her husband manage?

Well, the Sullivans have raised their larger-than-life family in a modest five bedroom house in Kent, are both self-employed and cut down costs on grocery shopping by making their own bread, butter and jam - not to mention raising their own hens for eggs.

Talk about being self-sufficient! Throw in the fact that she has twenty years worth of baby hand-me-downs to choose from and you begin to see that Tania is seriously savvy when it comes to saving money.

However there is one area where she refuses to cut costs, and that's on the education of her children.

While it would be cheaper for the family to send their children to school, Tania explained that she prefers to be in charge of their studies - especially as it allows her to have some say in what they learn:

"Home schooling does cost but the flexibility is priceless and the children learn so much more. I think they feel fortunate."

Tania is so confident that her way is best that she's set up a website offering advice to parents of large families. Check out the Supermum's largerfamilylife.com now for a few of her top tips, from knitting slippers for your children to penny-saving holiday ideas.

Do you think it's possible for mothers to follow Tania Sullivan's example and become truly self-sufficient, or is home schooling, growing your own fruit and veg and rearing chickens too tricky to fit into a modern lifestyle?