Parenting really can be hard work. Known as one of the very best and yet thankless jobs, it comes with a daily dose of highs and lows. Parents are often reminded that it is like having another full-time job, but one that doesn’t come with a holiday, pay, or any benefits whatsoever. However, parents also know that ultimately it is all worth it for the hugs and kisses and that huge feeling of pride that children can create.

The media loves a parenting story and this year has been no different. Parents have been hitting the headlines for a huge variety of reasons, both good and not so great. From happy births to claims that parents are not fulfilling their responsibilities properly, caring for a child seems to be a big topic. Other popular parenting stories this year have included a wide range of incredible birthing stories and some extreme legal challenges.

It’s not just human parents that have made the front pages; the animal kingdom also has its fair share of touching parenting tales to tell.

This list of 25 parents who made the headlines is sure to make parents everywhere smile, roll their eyes and maybe even tear up a little.

25 Quads At 50

Tracey Britten is certainly a family orientated lady. She has three grown-up children, aged 22, 31 and 32, from marriage number one and is a lucky grandma to eight. But despite this, she decided she wanted to start again with husband number two and set about seeking IVF. Few women over 45 are considered for IVF in the UK so Tracey set off for Cyprus, where she successfully became pregnant and delivered 3 daughters and 1 son by cesarean in a London hospital. Rather than being pleased for the new mum, many news outlets have condemned her as being selfish and taking up NHS resources (it took 35 members of staff at the births), and have already decided she is far too old and tired to cope with 4 babies.

24 FaceTime Birth

Soldiers sacrifice a lot for their service, but sometimes in an unexpected way. When Brooks Lindsey was notified that his wife had gone into labour he immediately set off from El Paso, Texas to get home for the birth in Mississippi. Unfortunately, his plane was delayed and little Millie Fritz Anne Lindsey was not in the mood to wait to meet the world, so dad watched the birth on FaceTime. Wellwishers filmed and photographed the emotional scene as Brooks sat on the floor crying with emotion and celebrated with him afterward.

23 Sia Cooper aka @DiaryOfAFitMommyOfficial

With over 1 million followers on social media, Sia Cooper is making a fine living as a social media influencer. According to time.com, she makes over $500 000 annually from her Diary Of A Fit Mommy account. Following an algorithm change earlier this year, comments she made on the account of superstars such as Kim Kardashian West and Chrissy Teigen turned ‘sticky’, gained her over 80, 000 new followers. The public likes to criticize most things about her including her fitness tips and parenting style.

22 Labeling A Child

Sandra Bullock hit the headlines this year after becoming annoyed at the way people ‘label’ children. In an interview with InStyle magazine, she asked the press to

"just refer to these kids as ‘our kids.’ Don’t say ‘my adopted child.’ No one calls their kid their ‘IVF child."

As a mother to 2 adopted children herself, she believes that we should just call children ‘children’ and stop referring to their origins.

21 Kids That Won't Leave

Most parents appreciate that it is getting more difficult for children to leave the nest and afford to make their own way in today’s world. But New York parents Christina and Mark Rotondo felt that their 30-year-old son Michael wasn’t really making the effort and took legal action to evict him. After losing his job at 22 Michael had moved back in with them but made no effort from that point to regain employment. After hearing that he doesn’t even contribute to household chores, Justice Donald Greenwood ordered him out immediately.

20 Lil Tay Goes Too Far

Lil Tay, a 9-year-old who likes to call herself ‘youngest flexer of the century’, is famous amongst her 1.7 million followers for boasting. Her channel features endless videos of her in ‘her’ expensive cars, throwing money around and generally saying how much better she is than everyone else. Whilst the public encourage her to continue her spiral of complete loss of control, her mom’s bosses weren’t so impressed with her involvement and fired her from her job as an estate agent. Let’s hope Lil Tay manages to keep hold of some of those riches to support the family now.

19 Marvellous Makaton

In November this year actor Rob Delaney read the popular CBeebies bedtime story, which is aired daily on the children’s channel. The unusual thing about this story is that for the first time the children’s sign language Makaton was used too. For 6-year-old Tom McCartney, who lives with a range of health issues, this was an eye-opening experience and footage filmed by his dad of Tom jumping up excitedly in his specially adapted chair went viral on Twitter. Tom’s mum watches the episode with him and can be seen crying with emotion at Tom’s reaction. A really touching family moment.

18 Family Trackers

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver made news headlines this year after revealing that he uses an app to track his children. Father to Poppy, 16, Daisy, 15, Petal, nine, Buddy, seven, and River, two, Jamie uses the Life360 app to check where his teenage daughters are and even what route they have taken. Whilst many were critical of his ‘big brother’ style, others could see the benefit. Jamie also pointed out that the app works both ways and his daughters often tell him off for driving too fast.

17 Charlie's Law

The high profile case of Charlie Gard has kept his parents in the headlines consistently for the past year. At 8 weeks old Charlie was taken to hospital by his concerned parents but never made it home again, passing away just before his first birthday. His parents faced a battle to take him to the USA for more treatment but it was denied. This year they have appeared again trying to implement ‘Charlie’s Law’, which would encourage the use of mediation between hospitals and families and avoid parents going through the long process that they had to go through. 

16 The First Baby Of The Year

Who doesn’t love a new baby story? And what better time of the year to cover your paper with them than New Year’s Day? Many parents hit the headlines at the opening of the year after giving birth at X seconds or minutes past midnight, with news channels around the world competing to find the ACTUAL first baby of the year. Ireland’s contender was born at just 7 seconds past midnight in Limerick to delighted parents Christine and Gareth O’Leary.

15 Baby Number 21

Having babies is old news for Sue and Noel Radford, who were back in the news again this year with their 21st baby. Starting in 1989 at the tender age of 14, the childhood sweethearts have gone on to have 10 boys and 11 girls and are also grandparents to 3. Supporting themselves with their family bakery, the family have starred in their own TV programme. They have said several times that the next baby would be their last, so keep watching the headlines next year to see if baby number 22 is expected!

14 Stealing From Your Son

A parent’s role is to raise your child with a great set of morals and attitudes that will see them through life to success. Not so for Kasie Pruden-Rivera, who saw her son more as a means of income. After a difficult birth resulting in some health issues, this mom received a $6.5 million settlement from the hospital. Receiving the first $550 000, intended for education and other particular needs she decided to go on a shopping spree for herself instead. She has now lost custody of both her children.

13 How To Wake Up Your Kids

It can be very difficult to wake your children up some days. Teenagers are notorious for their lay-ins and this can be frustrating when you’ve got places to be. Mom Sharron Dobbins thought she had come up with the perfect solution for getting her sons to church on time when she used unconventional methods to rouse them. It backfired when her 17-year-old called the police. She is now facing legal repercussions for her actions.

12 Questionable Parenting Skills

David and Louise Turpin hit the headlines for some questionable behaviour this year. In January they were taken into custody for the way in which they were treating their 13 children. The whole story started when 911 received a call from a teenage girl claiming she had ‘escaped’ from her parents’ house. Upon review, it was discovered that a further 12 children aged from 2 to 29  also being held. 

11 Giving Birth In The Car

Sometimes babies just won’t wait until it’s convenient to meet the world. For this mom of four, it resulted in a tricky ‘giving birth in a moving car’ scenario. Filmed by the dad, who was also driving at the time, the video of this mom kneeling in the passenger seat was posted on their social media account @theswinneyseven. What is even more astonishing is the fact that their four children are just casually watching from the backseat. ‘Can you wait another 2 minutes?’ asks dad, desperately. No, clearly not.

10 Alfie Evans

Merseyside couple Kate James and Tom Evans have had an emotional year. In April their 23-month-old baby Alfie passed away following lengthy legal proceedings about his treatment, with even the Pope getting involved. However, there was happy news for the couple this September as baby number 2 was born. According to bbc.co.uk mom Kate said

‘I was scared I would resent the baby because he is not Alfie but it hasn't been like that he is amazing - he is like Alfie's double.’

9 Chick-Fil-A Baby

Another couple who didn’t quite make it to the hospital this year was Falon and Robert Griffin. On the way to the hospital, the couple met up with some friends to drop off their other children in a Chick-Fil-A outlet. Popping to the bathroom, Falon actually gave birth instead. But it’s a happy ending for the baby, who has been promised free food for life and a guaranteed job as soon as she turns 16.

8 Too Much Paparazzi

When Indian actor Shahid Kapoor had a baby, the media were bound to be interested. Google tells us that he is cited in the media as ‘one of the most attractive Indian celebrities’, and has appeared in many Hindi films. However, mom Mira Rajput was less than impressed when she was surrounded by paparazzi recently as she was entering a park. She took to her social media account to request that the media ‘Let kids enjoy their childhood and leave the photographing to the parents’.

7 Secret Dad

The McClure Twins, along with mom Ami, dad Justin and little brother Jersey are well known on Youtube for their real-life everyday videos. Known as ‘The Discovery Twins’, they appear as a very happy family unit living their lives grounded in great morals and education. So it was a surprise this year when it was revealed that Justin is not the bio father of the twin girls. Ami reluctantly admitted that they were from a previous marriage but did add that Justin has fully adopted them and he is the only dad they have ever known.

6 Penguin Baby

October was a happy occasion for best male buddies Magic and Sphen, as they welcomed their first chick into the world. The popular Antarctic Gentoo penguins live in Sydney and were give a dummy egg as an experiment. Following successful trials, they were given a real egg to raise and have so far done a great job with their new baby chick. Same-gender parenting is relatively common in penguins, with one keeping the egg warm whilst the other keeps an eye out for threats.