Richard Roden oldest Dad of twins is a Dad again - at 72

Great-grandfather Richard Roden, 72, is celebrating after wife Lisa, 26, gave birth to his 13th child, daughter Madison. But the grey-haired pensioner’s hopes of a 14th offspring have been dashed after his young wife insisted on being sterilised. Virile Richard, who now has three children under the age of 25 months by Lisa, said: “I would have carried on trying for a boy. “Sexually, I’m just the same as I was in my 20s. “But Lisa wanted to be sterilised and we agreed we had enough young children in the house. “The girls are a lot of work. But I’m over the moon, I’m far happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I love waking up in the morning and having them to look after.” Mum-of-four Lisa, who has a daughter from a previous ­relationship, gave birth to Madison last month. Just 23 months earlier she had twins Emily and Ruby, making Richard the UK’s oldest dad of twins. All three tots were conceived without fertility treatment. Richard, who has three sons and seven daughters from two previous marriages, claims never to have seen a Viagra pill and puts his ­success down to a “healthy, ­normal” sex life. Already a grandfather of 36 and great-grandfather of nine, his age means that by the time Madison reaches secondary school, her dad will be over 80. And when she turns 21, he will be preparing to celebrate his 93rd birthday. But Richard, who speaks slowly and often pauses to collect his thoughts, is not bothered. He said: “I don’t feel any guilt at all. Why should I? My dad died at 25 when I was two and I was all right. People die at all ages. “It doesn’t worry me that Lisa might have to cope on her own, or that another man might raise my kids. “All I know is I’m not going ­anywhere just yet, and I’ll be there for the girls as long as I can.” Richard looks after the girls in the morning at their three-bed house in Walsall, West Midlands, and Lisa takes over later. The retired welder admitted: “Being a parent in my 70s is ­definitely much more tiring than it was in my 20s, but it gives me so much pleasure. The girls help to keep me young too.” The unlikely couple met while studying at an adult education ­college six years ago. They became lovers a year later after a seaside trip to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and ­married in September 2009. Lisa, who already had nine-year-old daughter Bethany, said: “Richard and I are soul-mates, and we make each other happy. “He is a great dad. We took a lot of abuse at the beginning of our ­relationship, and when we had the twins. It really upset me. “But things have died down a bit since we had Madison. “Now people stop us to say how wonderful it is that someone Richard’s age has found love. ” She added: “I decided to get sterilised because I knew Richard would want more children and I think four young girls in one house is enough. “We already struggle to buy a uniform for Bethany, and other things around the house.” “I don’t want to have any more children when I don’t know how we would support them. “The girls are quite enough of a handful as it is. I try not to think about what happens when Richard gets older and less mobile, and I have to care for him as well.“It might be very difficult, but I don’t want to worry. Richard is healthy and whatever happens in the future we can handle it.” Grinning, Richard added: “I know that I’m a very lucky man to have a young wife and family at my age and I love them to bits. I don’t have anything to apologise for.” But while the doting dad – who became a parent for the first time in 1959 – is unapologetic, he has the feelings of his grown-up ­children to contend with. Two sons and four daughters from his first marriage are not speaking to him and have branded his new wife a “gold digger”. But Richard said: “All we’ve done is fall in love, and there’s nothing wrong with that. “So I’m not bothered what they think, and they can say whatever they like about us. I don’t care.” Lisa’s mum, Lesley, 52, was also horrified when her daughter ­decided to marry Richard. Lisa said: “She likes him and she dotes on her ­grandchildren, but she doesn’t ­understand why I’m with him. “She’s said to me many times that he’s old enough to be my granddad and that it won’t last. The criticism used to upset me, but now I just try to get on with it.” The couple also faced a fresh wave of criticism last December when Lisa was exposed as a benefits cheat after failing to inform the authorities of her marriage. It was reported she over-claimed nearly £7,000 in council tax benefit and income support. Lisa – who ­admitted two charges of failing to notify authorities of her change in circumstances – maintains she did send letters to the authorities. Shaking her head angrily, she said: “It’s not my fault they didn’t receive them. “The total sum we owed was ­actually £3,000 and we started paying it back monthly immediately. “It is nearly all paid back now. But after the court hearing, lots of people came up to me to say I was a ­disgrace.” Patting her hand, Richard said: “The twins and this baby are proof of how much we love each other, despite the age gap between us. “And that is more important than what anybody thinks of us.” Lisa added: “I know something may happen to Richard in the future and I might be left on my own. “But I ­honestly don’t want to be with anyone else. My last partner made it hard for me to trust anyone my own age. “So I won’t be looking for a stepdad to replace Richard.  “But I know that as long as I have my babies and my mum and dad, I’ll be all right. I’ll be quite happy. “I can’t imagine a younger man making me happy.”