A mother who gave birth to 14 children in 21 years is open about her decision to expand her family after she lost her three-month-old daughter from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Haini and Sarah Wolfgramm, from Mentone, California, met through their shared love of music and got married after touring together. She was 20 years old when they welcomed their first child in 1996.
“When we met and fell in love and got married, we both felt that if God willed and if we were able, we would have a beautiful, big family like the one we came from,” said Sarah, 47. , On Good morning America.
Haini, who is the bass guitarist for his family’s pop band The Jets, is one of 17 children, while Sarah herself has eight siblings.
Sarah Wolfgramm, 47, of Mentone, California, opened up to Good Morning America about having 14 kids in 21 years
Sarah and her husband, Haini Wolfgramm (pictured with their children), both came from large families. Sarah’s cousin Amelia Lyons she has been photographing for years
The couple suffered a heartbreaking loss after the death of their 12th child, Sariah (pictured)
“I just think at the time we didn’t really think we’d have more than, I don’t know, three or four kids,” Haini, 55, shared. “But it just kept going and going and going, and you know, it was awesome. I mean, we both love it.”
In 2014, disaster struck the Wolfgramms when their 12th child, Sariah, died of sudden infant death syndrome after being put to sleep. SIDS is the sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy baby less than a year old.
Sarah shared how her husband went to check on the three-month-old in the middle of the night and found she wasn’t breathing.
“I just heard a scream from him, and he said, ‘She’s not breathing! She’s not breathing!'” she recalls.
The couple’s children found solace in each other after the devastating loss of their little sister.
Haini is the bass guitarist for his family’s pop band The Jets (pictured)
Haini and Sarah met through their shared love of music and got married after touring together
Haini told GMA that initially they thought they would only have three or four children. “It just kept going and going and going, and you know, it was great. I mean, we both love it,” he said
The couple’s daughter, Tihané, shared how she and her siblings leaned on each other after the devastating loss of their little sister
Sarah shared how she and her husband have “13 crowns and a halo” after Sariah’s death. Their eldest children have followed in their footsteps with their band, 13 Crowns
“I think what helped us through our sister’s passing is that we have each other because we can rely on each other and comfort each other,” their daughter Tihane told GMA. “So I think having a big family made all the difference during that difficult time.”
Haini and Sarah mourned their daughter when they realized they wanted to have another child.
“We had this thought, like, ‘Is this what we want our family to end up with? Is this how we want the last chapter of our lives to be?'” Sarah explained.
“I made the conscious decision to get down on my knees and ask God, ‘If you give me the strength, I’ll take the plunge and take another one.'”
The linked welcome another daughter in 2015, a year after they lost Sariah. Their youngest child, born a few years later in 2017, was a joyful surprise.
The Wolfgramm family went viral late last year after sharing a 42-second video of Sarah hugging each of her children. She was 20 years old when she had her first baby in 1996
Sarah and Haini welcomed their 13th child in 2015. The rainbow baby was born a year after Sariah’s death
Baby number 14 was a “complete surprise” and the couple named their youngest child Joy
“(God) blessed us with a beautiful rainbow baby, number 13, and two and a half years later, totally surprised, because I didn’t expect to get pregnant again, we had a bonus baby,” Sarah said of their 14th child, who she called Joy called.
“So we know we have 13 crowns and a halo and Sariah is our angel who always guides our family and we feel her spirit present in our home.”
Haini and Sarah’s seven eldest children – Eve, Heinrich, Isabella, Tihané, Abraham, Maikeli and Nora – have followed in their parents’ musical footsteps and formed their own band, 13 Crowns.
The Wolfgramm family have documented lives on the 13 Crowns TikTok page and they went viral late last year after sharing a 42 second video of Sarah hugging each of her children.
The on-screen text revealed the years she had each child, as well as her age at the time. The clip ended with five-year-old Joy running into her mother’s arms.
“14 kids in 21 years,” read the final caption.
