11 Kids and Wanting More

The Chalk family of Brisbane are truly Packed to the Rafters.

Dad Darren and mum Dale have 11 children all under the age of 8 -and they’re not done yet.

Dale Chalk made history when she became the world’s first mother to conceive ‘back to back quads’ but their desire for a large family has put them in the spotlight.

They have been subjected to criticism from both public, media and medical experts, and now in a documentary for LifeStyle You they tell their story.

Darren and Dale are a couple who know what they want. They were married within 12 months of meeting one another, but it was a blow when they learned Darren was infertile. Through IVF Dale conceived with quads no less -the odds of doing so being 1 in 500,000.

But the birth was difficult with her babies born premature, and Dale herself nearly didn’t make it. Within twelve months and more IVF she was pregnant with another 4 babies -this time one did not survive.

Next time she turned to the fertility clinics they would no longer offer assistance but with the help of donors sourced online Dale had twins. The couple also have two other daughters.

This documentary, produced by Eyeworks, follows the Chalks at home.

Darren earns $1400 a week from 2 jobs as an ambulance driver and taxi driver, working 70 hours, 6 days a week. A grocery shopping trip costs $901 and consists of 54 loaves of bread, 8 kilos of washing powder, 44 toilet rolls, 16 kilos of vegetables, 32 litres of milk, 28 litres of juice, and 3 kilos of cheese. The family never get a holiday, and the cameras are then on the first day of school for the eldest quads.

This is clearly a household with ground rules, with 8 year old Shelby at the top of the pecking order.

Showing leadership qualities, she leads by example.

“If the eldest is doing something right, then they’ll do something right. If the eldest is doing something wrong, then they’ll do something wrong,” she says. Smart kid.

Mum Dale is surprisingly calm for such a big tribe. Any kid who asks for a treat in the supermarket is greeted with a firm no. There’s no such thing as ‘naughty’ but she does tell troublemakers they have to “sort yourself out,” and to come back and apologise when they realise the error of their ways.

Despite the demands -and expense- of such a gargantuan family, Dale insists she isn’t done just yet, and resorts to sourcing IVF donors online.

“There’s just something inside you that says when you’ve had enough, and I haven’t had enough. I feel that I’ve got another baby inside me,” she says.

But despite occasional abuse in the streets, she rejects criticism she is ‘addicted’ to having more children.

“I’m not addicted to having babies. I like babies, I like kids, I like adults. I’d like another one, but if I don’t that’s fine,” she says.

Darren is nervous about the medical risk to Dale, in undergoing another pregnancy.

Under these cameras the Chalks certainly look like they are on their best behaviour. It’s hard to know whether scenes are typical of ‘a day in the life’ or not.

Given this is a sympathetic documentary there’s also not a great deal of time spent on the medical or social criticism of rearing families of this size. But is it anyone else’s business?

What is pretty clear is that this is a household full of love, patience and compromise from everyone from Dad to the youngest tot.

“I would never do anything different,” says Dale. “If I had my time over again I’d do everything exactly the same.”

11 Kids and Wanting More airs 9:30pm Thursday December 8 on LifeStyle You.