Irineu Cruz and his wife, Jucicleide Silva, said that even though they already have 13 sons, they will not stop and will continue having babies until they have a daughter as they wish.
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| Irineu Cruz (40 years old) and Jucicleide Silva, a couple from Conceição do Coité (Brazil), have long been jokingly referred to by friends and neighbors as owning their own football team because they have 13 sons. |
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| Population experts say the probability of a couple having 13 sons in a row is only about 1 in 8000. However, Irineu and his wife still felt unhappy and dissatisfied, and they still hadn't had a daughter. |
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| When Jucicleide Silva was pregnant for the first time 20 years ago, Irineu (then 20 years old) told his wife, "I'll name the child if it's a boy. You name the child if it's a girl." To this day, Jucicleide has yet to have the chance to name her child, while Irineu has had to do so 13 times. |
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| Irineu and Jucicleide's sons range in age from one month to 18 years old. Both the boys and the girls are given names beginning with the letter "R". "Almost all the good South American soccer players have names starting with 'R'. So we decided to name our children after soccer-related names and the names of players I admire," said Irineu. |
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| Most recently, Irineu's family welcomed baby Ronaldo to their "team," which includes: Robson (18 years old), Reinan (17 years old), Rauan (15 years old), Rubens (14 years old), Rivaldo (13 years old), Ruan (12 years old), Ramon (10 years old), Rincon (9 years old), Riquelme (7 years old), Ramires (5 years old), Railson (3 years old), and Rafael (2 years old). |
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| Irineu's sons even joined the village football team and often played together every weekend. Irineu would often act as the referee. When his family's team won, he would usually receive a goat or some children's food as a reward. |
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| “They play football very well. Robson and Rauan are star strikers in our team. It would be great if my boys could play for the Brazilian national team. The only son who doesn't seem to like football much is Reinan. Reinan is more interested in chasing girls than the ball,” Irineu said with a laugh. |
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| As the primary caregiver for her family, Jucicleide says that for lunch she usually cooks 1kg of rice, 1kg of beans, and a large package of pasta. Despite facing hardships, she has never let anyone go hungry. “If we only have one loaf of bread, we’ll share it equally among everyone. My sons are very well-behaved and considerate,” Jucicleide says. “However, I still long for a baby girl. It would be wonderful if I could name my daughter.” |
According to Tien Phong Online
