In brief
- Maria and Najib El Khoury have seven girls and six boys aged between 4 and 22.
- As Mother's Day approaches, Maria says the beautiful experience of motherhood has made her all the more grateful for her own mum.
Maria El Khoury is a mum of thirteen. The experience has given her a deeper appreciation for her own mum, as she's grown to understand the weight, tenderness and sacrifice that motherhood carries.
"They are my life, my husband and I," she told SBS Arabic.
"If there's a missing child, we say, 'Oh, there's a missing child. God willing, he'll return from work.' We eagerly await their return so we can sit with them and talk to them.
"Before I got married, I said I wanted the dining table to be full."
Maria and her husband Najib have seven girls and six boys. The eldest is 22, and the youngest just four.
At 47 herself, Maria doesn't see herself as a "super mum", but simply as a mother like any other — only with a much bigger workload and a much fuller home.
"I do what everybody else does, but triple the work," she said.
"I bless my mum every day. I always apologise to her ... now that I'm a mother."
As the children have grown older, Maria says they are the ones that make her feel the most special.
It fills her heart to see each of them happy and thriving.
She believes that the bigger the family, the bigger the love, and their home reflects exactly that: lively, noisy, warm, and overflowing with affection.
Every milestone, every shared meal, and every small moment becomes richer when experienced together.
Her children feel the bond strongly as well, describing her as strong, patient, selfless and caring.
Her son, Joseph, describes a mother as a "a role model who teaches you to be who you are and to raise you from the day you're born to the day you die".
"My mum, she's a very strong woman, she's very selfless and she's very resilient," said her daughter Joelene.
"If I was to become a mother, I would aspire to be like mine."
While Maria wouldn't trade it for anything, she admits that raising thirteen children comes with emotional challenges.
She feels a deep sense of guilt whenever one child needs her — especially during times of illness of hospital stays — and she can't physically be present for the younger ones at the same time.
But she's certain of one thing: her love for all thirteen of her children is equal, unwavering and shared wholeheartedly among them.
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