A big family wasn’t in Iris’s plans, but life had other ideas…
Moving my body to the music, I was in my element.
As a dancer and choreographer, I loved hip-hop and dancehall music, and I was showing off my moves at a friend’s house party.
As I swayed, a woman approached me.
‘I like how you dance, and I've invited my cousin to have a dance battle with you,’ she said.
‘Sure,’ I smiled.
I’d taken part in a dance battle before — which is when two dancers go up against each other, performing different styles, with one usually emerging victorious.
Just then, a man walked in, and the woman introduced him as her cousin, Cordell.
Other partygoers cheered as we threw our best shapes.
‘You’re a great dancer!’ Cordell praised me after the contest.
‘So are you,’ I smiled.
It was a brilliant night.
A week later, I was at home one evening when my friend called.
‘Cord has asked for your number — can I give it to him?’ she asked.
‘Yes, sure,’ I replied, feeling I had nothing to lose.
The following morning, he called and we arranged to go on a date.
I found out he was a professional dancer.
We also both had six-month-old boys — I had Malikhai, and Cord had a son, Junior.
In time, we became a couple.
‘You know I won that dance battle,’ I teased.
'I'm worried something will happen to you'
‘Yeah, but I won the girl,’ Cordell grinned, as he snuggled up to me.
We both adored children, so when we found out I was expecting after being together for nearly a year, we were thrilled.
It wasn’t long before Cordell popped the question.
We hadn’t discussed marriage, but I joyfully accepted, and we tied the knot at a registry office with a stranger as our witness.
Two days after getting hitched, I gave birth to our son, Jahni, and the five of us excitedly started our new life together.
Cordell continued to work and support us, while I took a break from being a choreographer so I could raise our three children.
But after three years of marriage, as much as I loved looking after our little ones, I struggled to adapt to being a stay-at-home mum.
Feeling lost, I started going to church regularly.
Growing up, I’d attended services, but this time they took on more meaning.
I convinced Cordell to come to church with me, and he decided to dedicate his life to the Lord, too.
‘I'll have as many children as God deems fit for me to have,’ I said to Cordell.
I was already pregnant with our fourth child and, in time, gave birth to my first daughter, Trinity.
After that, we soon welcomed our fifth child, Messiah.
Over the years, more followed — Josiah, Love, Seven, Royal, Heavenly, and then our 12th child, Hope.
In total, we had seven sons and five daughters — a delightful dozen!
I sailed through each pregnancy, apart from with Trinity, which was the only time I suffered from morning sickness and discomfort.
I gave birth naturally to seven of my children and used meditation to stay calm during delivery.
However, I needed to have four C-sections for the others, and after Hope, doctors expressed their concern about potential health complications if I had another C-Section.
‘I’m worried something will happen to you,’ Cordell said.
He felt strongly that I needed to give my body a rest.
'Stop it! Don't make them laugh!'
At first, I was against it.
I believed children were a blessing.
But then I realised that he was looking out for my best interests, and the most important thing was to be fit and healthy for the children we already had.
So, I had my tubes tied.
I knew it was the right decision.
Cord and I quickly got into a routine so we could stay organised with such a big brood.
On weekdays we woke at 5am to pray and workout, before getting them ready for school. After collecting them, I helped with homework while Cordell was at work.
Then at the weekend, we got up slightly later and spent time with the kids.
We held one family meeting per day where we prayed and gave our kids the chance to address any issues they might have. It was also a way for us to see who needed one-on-one time with Cordell or me.
The older kids also pitched in with household chores, as we wanted to teach them the importance of not being idle.
When it came to our weekly food budget, we typically spent around £400 on food for our bumper brood.
We bought a mini van, and moved into a house with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms.
I adored watching my kids grow up and develop their own personalities.
Malikhai was strong and outspoken, while Junior was more laid back.
Jahni was our clever clogs, Trinity was mother goose and Messiah was a jack of all trades.
Josiah was our little prophetess, Love was a big ball of energy, while strong-willed Seven took after his big brother, Malikhai.
Then we had Michael who was athletic, Royal was the heart of the family, Heavenly had such a great sense of humour, and finally Hope was our little dancer.
Cord and I were always dancing at home, and over time the kids picked up some of our signature moves.
‘You should post videos of yourself dancing online,’ Cordell suggested to me one day.
‘I’m not sure I want to put myself out there,’ I said.
But after two years, I finally came round to the idea, and also wanted to include my family of tiny dancers, too.
We started posting videos of our routines on TikTok.
Typically it took us 15 minutes to learn one dance as a family, before we filmed it.
While I took my choreography duties seriously, Cordell was a big kid and joked around.
‘Don’t make them laugh!’ I scolded playfully, as the kids struggled to keep a straight face before we started dancing.
While me, Cordell and the older kids performed the moves to the beat, the younger ones did their best to keep up or watched on.
‘You did great, guys!’ I said after we finished one routine.
It was so much fun to dance together.
We also shared stories about our super-sized family on TikTok.
One day, I posted a video about the fact I’d been pregnant 16 years in a row.
It quickly went viral.
Beautiful family. one commented.
But while we had lots of positive comments, we attracted some negative ones, too.
The criticism really got to me but Cordell had a tougher skin.
‘I think it’s funny,’ he said.
Now our eldest is 18, and the youngest is four.
Aside from our social media presence, Cordell is now a pastor, and we also teach dance classes.
We’ve acted in TV adverts and films, too.
It was hard to adjust to not being pregnant, but I’ve come round to the idea I probably won’t be bringing any more children into the world.
But I have no plans to stop dancing — and spreading happiness!
By Iris Purnell, 39