Grandpa Erik has four daughters and… ten granddaughters: “Such a ladies’ clan is nice, but luckily the sons-in-law bring some balance” (Domestic)

The Van Goethem family from Mortsel celebrated Easter like so many families. Only… the four daughters who together gave birth to ten grandchildren, all girls, created a real ladies’ clan. Ancestor Erik is proud of that beautiful offspring. “But of course the men sometimes feel a bit excluded.”

Nina is the youngest of four sisters, who grew up together in Mortsel. “My eldest two sisters are Anaïs (43) and Saskia (43), they are twins. Lauri (37) is the middle one. Each of the three sisters has three daughters and I became a mother to Emilia in January. So there are now ten nieces in total.” Coincidental, but of course not impossible. Just a twist of fate.

“I don’t think it’s in our genes to only have girls. Because my mother Marleen (67) has two brothers.” It is remarkable that three twins were born in the Van Goethem family in three generations. Nina: “My mother was part of twins. She in turn gave birth to twins Anaïs and Saskia. My sister Lauri also became the mother of twins: Elin (11) and Noor (11).”

“Sister Saskia lives in Ireland. We try to all be together once a year, at Easter.”

Nina Van Goethem

The youngest sister

“I like that there are so many women,” says Nina, who lives in Pulderbos. “It was fun growing up with three big sisters. We have always had a lot in common. The nieces also get along well with each other and that is nice to see. We are very different from each other and have different interests. We’re not all typical girls.”

But how do the men of the family feel? “My father is happy that he also has four sons-in-law in addition to us,” laughs Nina. “Because there is more chatter between the women. That sometimes makes those men feel a bit excluded.”

Each in order

The sisters’ eldest and youngest daughters are eighteen years apart. “The age difference creates a nice dynamic,” says Nina. “My daughter Emilia is still a baby, and of course the rest of us think that is very cute.”

One of the eldest of the four, Saskia, lives with her husband and three daughters in Ireland. “We try to get together at least once a year to celebrate Easter. So Monday was the first time that the whole family came together with these ten nieces in Schilde. That’s why the grandmother thought it was a good idea to take a photo of them all wearing a pink T-shirt with the number of their birth order on it.”