Although the busy parents have admitted that they’re struggling to come up with new names, they plan to continue their cute if strange tradition which honours 39-year-old dad Carols

Patty and Carlos have 16 children, with plans for number 17 (Image: Courtesy of Patty Hernandez)

A mum of 16 who has never used contraception has no plans to stop having kids and is now considering names for when she falls pregnant with number 17.

Patty Hernandez from Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States says she is feeling “really fertile” so is confident the family will have a new addition soon.

The 40-year-old mum added that they plan to continue their ‘cute’ naming tradition – all children have names beginning with ‘C’.

The tradition began in honour of their father, 39-year-old Carlos.

Speaking to The Mirror, Patty said: “We are trying for baby number 17. We are doing God’s will and our prayer to him is to extend our family more if he wants to.

Baby number 16 was the longest and hardest pregnancy Patty has had yet, but she plans to do it again (Image: Courtesy of Patty Hernandez)

“We always wanted a big family but never thought God would bless us this much.

“I know I can conceive (again) as I am really fertile and trust God.

“We are thinking of naming the child Carter if he is a boy and Clair if she is is a girl.”

Patty, who runs her own cleaning company, gave birth to her 16th child, Clayton, in May last year.

While it was her toughest pregnancy yet, Patty described the birth as a ‘blessing from God’, adding that she was open to having more children.

The couple have given all their children named beginning with C to honour dad Carols (Image: Patty Hernandez)

The mum revealed she and her husband had struggled to think up a new name beginning with ‘C’ before Clayton was born.

She previously said: “We couldn’t figure out a name and then Clayton just popped into my head.

“All the kids have names beginning with ‘C’ and we wanted to keep that going. My husband is called Carlos…it’s a tribute to him.

“God has blessed us with all these kids, I know some people don’t agree and there are nasty comments online but for us, it’s a big blessing.

“I never thought I would have a big family until I started having babies. Then I thought ‘this is cool, why not?’ It’s really fun.

The mum was 40 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to Clayton (pictured) (Image: Courtesy of Patty Hernandez)

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“If God wants us to have another child we will have another one.”

The mum was 40 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to Clayton – her longest pregnancy yet.

“All my other births have been before 38 weeks. He just didn’t want to come out,” she said.

Patty said most of the nurses at the hospital recognised her when she went in for the delivery.

She said: “They were like ‘you were here last year, we see you every year.'”

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Feeding their massive family is no easy task, with an eye-watering £650 food bill every two weeks – but Patty wanted to stress that they receive no help or Government support.

The couple earns enough from their cleaning business to pay their bills – and they hope their eldest, Carlos Jr, will soon be able to help out at the family firm.

The couple, who have never used contraception, also have three sets of twins, Carla and Caitlyn, Calvin and Catherine, and Caleb and Caroline.

The remaining eight children are; Christopher, Cristian, Celeste, Cristina, Carol, Camilla, Charlotte and Crystal.