There was a time when 2.4 children was the norm; these days it seems big families are becoming more commonplace. Four is the new three it seems and it has people wondering why.

TV personality Vogue Williams, who recently welcomed her first child, claims that parenting is such an easy task that she and her husband Spencer Matthews plan to have lots of children.

She recently quoted on her Instagram: “Spencer and I want 3 or 4 children but now looking at Theodore I think I want 10”.

And she isn’t alone, there are lots of celebrity couples with a large brood— the Beckhams have four children, Jamie and Jools Oliver have five, Gordon and Tana Ramsay recently had their fifth and Alex and Hilaria Baldwin also have four.

So what is it about having lots of children that makes these well-known families keep adding to their brood?

For me, it was always a dream of mine to have a big family. Children close in age and all their friends in the house when they got a little older. Thankfully I know for my husband it was the same for him.

We have four children. Our eldest son is 9 and we have three daughters 4,3 and 1. It is a little mental at times and my laundry basket is always full and my fridge always empty, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

My siblings were 7 years younger and 14 years younger than me, so growing up I felt like an only child for all the big stages of life. I felt like I went through them alone, almost. Even now being married and a mum of four, it can be difficult for my siblings to relate to that when they’re not at that stage of life yet.

I always wanted children that would be close in age and have each other to lean on whatever stage of life they were going through because the other one would be going through similar.

My husband was the same, his siblings are both 10 and 11 years older than him and had essentially moved out of the family home when he was a child. He would go to friends’ houses and see his friend’s siblings and their friends all ‘hanging out” together and always wanted this for his own kids.

Although our children are so close in age and they can fight and get on each other’s nerves a lot the love that they have for each other is absolutely beautiful. The way they look after each other and help one another is something we could have only dreamt of. Let’s hope it continues for the whole lives.