At the age of 24, many people are just starting to think about motherhood and parenthood. But not Kristina Ozturk. Kristina is already the mom of 22 kids, 21 of them being babies under the age of 18 months.
How did it happen? Well, Kristina has quite the interesting backstory. Originally from Russia, she currently lives in Batumi, Georgia. She and her husband, who's a millionaire businessman, hired multiple surrogates.
Right now, in addition to her own daughter Vika, she's parenting her and Galip's babies Mustafa, 19 months; Mariam, 18 months; Ayrin, 18 months; Alisa, 18 months; Hasan, 17 months; Judi, 17 months; Harper, 16 months; Teresa, 16 months; Huseyin, 16 months; Anna, 15 months; Isabella, 15 months; Ismail, 14 months; Mehmet, 14 months; Ahmet, 14 months; Ali, 13 months; Kristina, 13 months; Sara, 1 year; Lokman, 1 year; Galip, 11 months; Olivia, 9 months; and Judy, 3 months. It's almost like an entire classroom of kids.
She's not doing it alone. She and her husband have also hired 16 nannies to help out with the day-to-day. They're so involved that they live with the couple. That's a heavy responsibility, but it seems like the dynamic works out for everyone.
It seems like a lot, but this was completely a controlled decision. In fact, Kristina wants even more children. According to Journal, her goal is 100 by the time she's 30 — but, that said, it's questionable as to where all these kids would end up sleeping. It's a goal that seems ridiculous to moms today.
So, what is Kristina's backstory?
Kristina first got pregnant at the age of 17 and was living life as a single mom to her daughter Vika. After a few years, she decided to take a trip to the country of Georgia on a vacation. She had no idea she'd meet a man who'd change everything around. Galip Ozturk was already quite a successful businessman, but he was looking for love.
That said, the publication did note that Galip doesn't have the cleanest record. He reportedly was meant to spend life in prison after an act of violence against a coworker. However, he fled to Georgia, which is where he met Kristina. To many, that would be a gigantic red flag. But Kristina likely saw an opportunity to have a partner and raise a family.
After falling in love, Kristina and her daughter moved to Georgia permanently to build a life with Galip. Galip also has eight children from prior relationships. The two first chose to start their own branch of the family by hiring a surrogate but realized that they both wanted a very large family.
They hired multiple surrogates very soon after their first in order to get the process started. That process was harder than you might figure — each surrogate had to go through counseling before undergoing the process. There was also a lot of legal paperwork beforehand. Of course, they were paid generously. Without money, none of this would have been possible.
Kristina understands that her life looks a little different, but she has tried her hardest to answer any questions people have. When it comes to feeding, she usually feeds her children and then catches a late dinner with her husband, who often works late. She also says that the 16 nannies aren't "assigned" to individual kids.
"During the day – of course, a specific one is responsible for a specific child. But during the week the nannies change," she said. That means that each nanny is accustomed to every child. She also said that she manages to have plenty of one-on-one time with every baby. "We have a special bond with every child. I wish every parent to be able to spend all their time with their children because this is the most important thing in life," she stated, per the New York Post.
That said, Kristina also knows that there's a lot of gossip out there about her family. And that's yet another factor she needs to deal with on a daily basis, especially since she tries to make her own living as an Instagram influencer. With the number of kids she has and the history of her husband, it makes sense that people wouldn't understand.
"Most of you support our family or are just watching us out of curiosity.
But some of them are those who want to 'reach out' to my husband or scammers who ask to 'treat' a non-existent person with a non-existent disease," she wrote this year. "I want to appeal to each of those who ask me to convey something to my husband or ask my husband. Go to his page yourself and send him your request, your words, your message."
"I don’t want my subscribers to send help to those who do not need it, to send it to those who cheat someone else’s misfortune," she continued. "I hope you understand what I'm talking about and don't take it personally." The most important part is that all of these kids seem to be well taken care of, and Kristina seems happy. From what she chooses to share on Instagram, it seems like she's content with the road her life has taken her.
