If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again. And again.
A Michigan couple with 14 sons welcomed their first daughter into a very large family on Thursday, ending an all-male streak that spans nearly three decades.
Mom Kateri Schwandt gave birth to little Maggie Jayne on Thursday at a hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. The girl weighed 3.4 kilograms (seven pounds, eight ounces) — and she’ll need all of that weight to take on her 14 older brothers.
Kateri and her husband, Jay Schwandt, said they were “overjoyed and beyond excited” to add the girl to their family.
“This year has been memorable in so many ways, for so many reasons, but Maggie is the greatest gift we could ever imagine,” Jay told the Detroit Free Press.
The couple, who are both 45, run a reality TV operation with their kids, whom they call the “14 Outdoorsmen.”
That name might need an update, as Maggie Jayne joins Zach, Drew, Brandon, Tommy, Vinny, Calvan, Gabe, Wesley, Charlie, Luke, Tucker, Francisco, Finley and Tyler in the family.
“My parents were finally blessed with the little girl they never thought they’d end up having,” 28-year-old Tyler, the eldest, told Free Press.
“It’s been about 12 hours since my dad told us, and I still haven’t quite wrapped my mind around it.”
The Schwandts boast on their website that they have enough testosterone at home to “fill a stadium,” so a girl will take a bit of getting used to.
“I don’t even know if my mom owns any pink clothing — or anything,” Tyler said.
Local news stations have covered the family several times over the years, especially when a new child is on the way.
The couple met while attending separate high schools and were married in 1993, just before they headed off to university together. They had three children by the time they graduated.
Jay is a lawyer and owns a land surveying business, while Kateri has a master’s degree in social work.
The family currently lives on an 81-hectare farm in Lakeview, Mich.
— With files from The Associated Press
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