Verónica Montesinos likes to meet separately with each of her four children from time to time. To talk about your things. The last time he invited Lola (17), the oldest of the children, to dinner, the girl got quite a scare: “I thought I was going to announce that there was another brother on the way,” says Verónica. “There are already too many of us, I don’t want more,” Lola says as she prepares for the photos. Accustomed to the advantages of a long family – the father, Rafa Rovira, has 150, including cousins and brothers –, this decision came naturally to them. “You simplify so as not to complicate your life. We traveled a lot to Ibiza and with the first one we carried a lot of things, now with four we go lighter; you don’t need even half of what you carried before,” says Verónica.
In Spain there are half a million large families, according to the latest study by the Spanish Federation of Large Families (FEFN), in a time of demographic winter in the country, where, on average, each woman has 1.2 children. According to Eurostat, in the European Union almost half of families have only one child, and only 12.9% have three or more. Spanish law considers a large family to be when there are three children, whether they are from the same couple or from different partners, whether the parents are married, separated or divorced. The FEFN confirms that having many children is often a conscious decision against which there are many prejudices. “Not all of them are rich nor are all of them from Opus Dei,” they confirm.
Rovira Montesinos Family
Rafa Rovira and Verónica Montesinos form a large family, according to all known classifications: Lola (17), Isabela (12), Rafa (7), Sol (4). To manage his offspring, his formula has been to simplify logistics and keep the essentials. “The children themselves manage each other, they also fight, but that helps them learn how the world works,” says Verónica. The care of the house is divided between the parents. Veronica barely remembers what her previous life was like.
Apparently having many children is synonymous with wealth, abundance of space, time and money. However, in 2023, data from the Ministry of Social Rights indicated that three out of four large families were finding it difficult to make ends meet. Almost half of parents with large families work in the private sector and 65% have a university degree. The high cost of living and the housing crisis have made it a privilege and a recklessness to have more than two children. It happens all over the world, and where the ultra-rich and techno-millionaires have started having children, having a long family has also become the definitive status symbol.
According to a study by Forbes, which surveyed more than 700 American millionaires, at least 22 of them had seven or more children, and the list included Steven Spielberg. Elon Musk is 13. Alec and Hilaria Baldwin broke the Internet with the reality show, The Baldwinswhich documents the comings and goings between her Manhattan apartment and her East Hampton mansion with seven children and eight pets. The Tradwife movement is becoming strong on Tiktok, glorifying the mother who stays at home baking breads and cakes for her husband and her extensive offspring.
“Not all of them are rich, nor are they all from Opus Dei.”
Large families are increasingly common among the 1% of Manhattan’s ultra-rich. At least this is the theory of Wednesday Martin, author of a controversial book with a provocative name: Primates of Park Avenue (The Primates of Park Avenue, not translated). Martin notes that “mass families” are everywhere on the Upper East Side, one of the most expensive housing areas, and schools and nannies most exclusive in the US. “Four is the new having three children, five is no longer crazy nor does it mean that you belong to any religion, it simply means that you are rich, and six is like having a penthouse with views of Central Park,” he summarizes in his book.
Verónica and Rafa do not make very expensive plans with their children, nor do they go to the last concert, unless it is a birthday gift. “It is not necessary to have children full of extracurricular activities, they have to learn to be bored and manage that,” reflects Verónica. They don’t buy them the latest phone either. They are very strict about the latter, perhaps because she works in the tech industry and is very aware of how addictive they are for children. Julia Urgel, who would not have minded having a room, and who at home has to deal with a teenager and a four-year-old girl – “it’s like having Bad Bunny and Peppa Pig in the same house – recognizes that “life is not easy to bring more children into the world.”
Altozano Urgel Family
When Julia Urgel and Gonzalo Altozano met, she already had her first two children, Íñigo (14) and Blanca (11). From the new union Pía (4) was born, and they all form a great family that works like clockwork. She is the founder of Julia Urgel.The Agency, a communications agency that opens an office in Dubai in January and he is a journalist and author of the podcast The kitchen table.They have help at home, the valuable Isaura, whom Julia sometimes jokingly calls “my husband.”
Julia has four brothers and each one has their own offspring. “When we get together we look like a soccer team, it’s a lot of fun and the children bring peace, joy and a lot of laughter. I can have stress and anxiety but it’s not because of the children, it’s because of what surrounds us, life is so complicated, everything is so expensive. But then I see the three of them in my bed on a Sunday morning and I find it fascinating.” “Family is my axis. It brings vital complications, but… it’s life. You may not be able to indulge so much or go on vacation every year but that can happen to all of us. What I have the worst are the fights between them, from time to time I have to scream; I would like to be less stressed and enjoy more quality time together.”
Sofía Pérez Roca and her sister Lucía also come from families that need a very long table at Christmas because almost 40 get together. “I would have had two more children, but they didn’t arrive. For me, family was the priority,” explains Sofía, who recognizes that the logistics are complicated and that they have help at home and the complete willingness of their parents to lend them a hand. “We are businesswomen and we are always from here to there. I try to be present as much as I can but it is true that we don’t have it easy. I always tell my eldest when she gets overwhelmed with exams: ‘Girls, a woman’s life is that exam plus the house and the children… we have to learn to organize because we are always going to have a lot of balls in the air,'” adds Sofía, who says that she always saw her mother be a businesswoman and run a house.
Fernandez Roca Family
Sofía and Lucía Fernández Roca are the founders
from Sophie & Lucie, a successful fashion brand. Each one has a family of three children and when they get together they form a gang of six cousins: Sofía (17), Alejandra (14), Lucía (11), another Lucía (5), Lorenzo (2) and Pepe (1). “I had three children but I would have had two more. I can’t imagine life any other way. I’m very happy with the phase I’m going through. We have help at home and a lot of family support network. Without that, it would be very difficult,” says Sofía.
“There are things that you don’t know how to do, no one has taught you. I guess they are in your DNA. I think all women who can should go through the experience of being mothers.” Verónica must also manage very disparate needs. Lola, the oldest, is 17 and Sol, the youngest, is 4. “But growing up surrounded by siblings is a joy because they become independent much sooner.” What Verónica has learned is that you have to dedicate some exclusive time to each one, go on a trip or have dinner alone because, even if they have been given the same education or the same thing has been demanded of them, “each one is different and has their own needs.”
Having many children, sociologists say, speaks of optimistic people who trust in the future, who are calm and this coincides with the demographic groups with the highest per capita income throughout the world. The luxury industry is targeting them, in need of becoming relevant again, with campaigns such as Botegga Venetta’s paternity portraits, or accessories such as cashmere baby carriers, which sell for 800 euros, and which are revered on the internet as “the Birkin of mothers.”
Having many children, sociologists say, speaks of optimistic people who trust in the future
This is not the case of the families in this report, but those who idealize multiple motherhood on social networks often forget to mention the logistics and support shield behind it. For example, they say that Kim Kasdashian has 10 for her four children. nannies They rotate every 24 hours, and the Baldwin family has two nannies on the payroll with a net annual salary of $200,000. For whatever reason, the internet forgets to comment on the fine print. This logistics allows ultra-rich multimothers and multifathers to constantly be socializing; to them, recover from childbirth in record time with all kinds of therapies, and keep the fresh face of someone who has not spent a single night without sleep.
If having a big family is a status symbol in 2025, it is because, as is often the case with everything aspirational, it is perceived as unattainable. And because having many children speaks too loudly about each person’s economic situation, rather than their desire to have a family.
