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The family receives state benefits of £24,000 a year
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A south Gloucestershire mother has spoken of her love of being pregnant after giving birth to her 10th child.
Joanne Sheppard, 32, gave birth to baby Riley earlier this week.
The baby has now joined seven of his siblings at the family's three-bed council house in Yate, near Bristol.
Mrs Sheppard's two eldest children live with their father in Devon.
She and her partner Gary Bateman, 42, said that looking after their brood is a full-time job.
The family receives state benefits of £24,000 a year, including incapacity benefit for Gary, who is unemployed, plus housing and council tax benefit. But they said that they still have to save around the clock to pay for Christmas and birthday gifts for their children.
The family have coped with their large size by choosing a 15-seater van instead of a family runaround. And they have converted their front room into a bedroom to create space for extra beds.
Mr Bateman also has three other children from a previous relationship.
Mrs Sheppard, who had her first child aged 17, told the Bristol Evening Post: "I love being pregnant. After my eighth child was born I said I wouldn't have any more. I love having a big family, it's always hectic and very hard work, but that's life.
"But this really is going to be the last baby for us - I'm going to get sterilised and Gary is going to have a vasectomy."
Copyright Press Association 2006
