I'm a mum-of-seven and people always assume I've been with loads of men – I wouldn't change my family for anything | The Sun

A MUM-OF-SEVEN has revealed people always automatically assume she's been with countless men.

Being a parent to one child is hard enough as it is – and no one knows it better than Amanda Miller, who is a mum to seven children.

Opening up on her personal YouTube channel, Amanda revealed she first became a parent at a ''very young age''.

''I was 17-years-old when i was pregnant with my daughter, Reese, and Stephen [her partner] was 19.''

Looking back at the journey, Amanda did admit that it was a ''scary'' time for the couple, especially as the baby hadn't been planned and there were a lot of ''what ifs''.

Despite the initial fears, the mum, who was 18 when her first child was born, knew that everything would be ''okay''.

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''We had a lot of determination and a lot of joy and that's what got us through those early years.''

Soon after, two years later, Amanda became a mum to another child, her daughter Keira, and from then, the family continued to grow.

Having always know that they wanted to become foster parents, Amanda and Stephen decided to look into adoption.

''We really felt like that was the path that we were going to take.''

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After calling several agencies, the family-of-four was introduced to a prospect of becoming parents to children from Ethiopia, as at the time, the orphanages over there were ''overflowing'' due to the AIDS pandemic.

Here, the couple was given a profile of a sibling group, Liam and Jude, and Amanda remembered that something inside her ''just stopped''.

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''I could just not take my eyes off of that email and that photo of them.

''I think these might be our sons,'' the mum recalled having thought.

Nine months later, the two boys joined their new family in the USA, where they immediately shared a strong bond with Amanda's and Stephen's two daughters.

''Their joy and their excitement over everything […]. Everything was so new and so interesting to them.''

But although life felt fulfilled and everyone had adjusted to the new environment, it wasn't that much later when Amanda mentioned to her partner that she wanted another baby.

''We had these four amazing kids and why not have another one, you know?''

After an emotional miscarriage and suffering from severe health issues, which saw Amanda with horrible stomach aches and her system ''shutting down'', a natural doctor recommended her some medicine – and also suggested she took a pregnancy test.

''That is our Ethan. We called him our miracle baby after multiple miscarriages.

''He was such a joy to welcome into our family,'' Amanda said, describing him as ''full of energy and shenanigans''.

Then, one day, as she was looking around the house, where the family was living ''comfortable'', the mum remembered thinking there's a room for one more child.

It was thenthat the two began looking into adopting a kid from China, where you ''age out of the system the day you turn 14''.

Realising that no child is ready to be on their own at such a young age, Amanda and Stephen made the decision to become parents to Penelope.

Although there was some anxiety at the start, as the teenager, naturally, questioned if she was able to trust the new parents, this changed very soon, and Penelope began to bond with everyone.

Sharing her journey, Amanda revealed that halfway through the adoption process with Penelope, she felt as if there was another child that they were supposed to adopt.

''I just can't shake this feeling that we are supposed to bring home two children from China,'' Amanda said to Stephen at the time.

Luckily, despite the extra measures in place, Amanda's and Stephen's hard work of applications and training paid off, and the two were introduced to Lincoln, a 15-month-old baby who had already had a stroke and other medical conditions.

I'm just so, so grateful for the family that we do have and these amazing seven children that we are raising.''

Although again, there were a lot of unknowns, she knew the very instant she looked at him that he was supposed to be a part of their family.

Now, just over three years later, the mun reflected and said: ''It's been a wild ride, guys.

''I feel like in many ways we've lived more life in these three years than all of the other years combined.''

Asked if the two had plans of growing their family even more, Amanda said that it could be on the cards – although at times, she felt as if their plate was already full.

Sharing little glimpses of their life as a family-of-nine on TikTok, Amanda also added that people would always assume various things.

Some would wonder if their big bunch was a church youth group, whilst others were convinced she's been around with many men.

But despite what people may say, Amanda said: ''It's been crazy and amazing and we've been through a lot of really tough challenges as well.

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''I'm just so, so grateful for the family that we do have and these amazing seven children that we are raising.

''It's just a joy and an honour to be their parents.''

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