The already very rich family of Gwenny Blanckaert (33) and Marino Vaneenoo (40) from Staden with even more special names has been expanded again. On March 16, the couple welcomed their thirteenth (!) child. Remarkable, because the couple already announced after the birth of their twelfth sprout that they would stick to those twelve.
Remarkably enough, all brothers and sisters – five sons and eight daughters – all have a name with the same four letters. It started fifteen years ago with Alex, who was named after Marino’s stepfather. A year later, Axel was born and the parents decided to continue using the same four letters. After Alex and Axel came Xela (13), Lexa (12), Xael (11), Xeal (9), Exla (7), Leax (6), Xale (4), Elax (3), Alxe (2), Laex (1) and now Laxe. The boy was born on March 16 in the Jan Yperman Hospital in Ypres and is doing well.
(Read more below the photo)
Now really complete
Initially they wanted to keep it to twelve children, but nature decided otherwise. “It was a surprise, but also a pleasant surprise,” says mom Gwenny. “Laxe really completes our family now.” The four brothers and eight sisters are also happy with the arrival of the new sprout. According to Gwenny, they were looking forward to the birth and even helped with the care. “Do we still have enough space in the house and in the car? Sure. We have two vans with nine seats each, so plenty of room. And there is still room at the table.”
From the beginning, Gwenny and Marino wanted a large family. “We like a bit of life in the brewery,” Gwenny said about this when Laex was born in April 2022. “I am a full-time mom, but luckily I can also count on the support of my husband. He works the night shift (at Ardo in Kortemark, editor’s note), but as soon as he is awake in the afternoon, he helps with the household. Whether the same four letters are not confusing? Not for us, we just are. The teachers at school have a little more trouble with it.”
A new family expansion is no longer planned. Although, strictly speaking, there are still letter combinations left. There are 24 possible combinations with four letters. So Xlae, Lxae, Lxea, Xlea, Exal, Elxa, Ealx, Eaxl, Aexl, Aelx, and Axle are left.
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