As Scotland’s biggest family, the Hanns are no strangers to the spotlight.
Emma and Roy are parents to 13 children.
The huge family starred in BBC documentary Scotland’s Biggest Families in 2022, and they’re well-kent faces wherever they go.
Emma and Roy, both 55, were brought up in the Mormon faith and were encouraged not to delay having kids.
It’s gone midday when I catch up with the couple on Zoom.
I hear dogs barking in the background, and voices drift from another room. This is a busy household!
The couple’s bumper brood includes Rachel, 33, Sophia, 32, Polly, 30, Charlotte, 29, Alice, 26, Annabelle, 24, Jennifer, 22, Isabella, 21, Jonas, 19, Enos, 17, Eva, 15, Posy 14, and Meg, 10.
Only the five youngest children still live in the Hann’s six-bedroom semi-detached house in the Charleston area of Dundee.
But the others frequently pop in, some dropping off their dogs to be “babysat”.
Hann family’s busy household
“Sophia’s away to take the youngest one to the park, Eva’s gone to Easter school, and Enos, Jonas and Posy are in their beds,” Emma tells me.
“Charlotte starts work at 4pm but she’s hanging out here for a bit.
“Polly lives in Dollar with her two little boys, Rachel lives near Livingston, and Annabelle lives in Edinburgh.
“She’s just finished her nursing degree and she’s moving back to Dundee for a job.”
I wonder how on earth they keep track of all the various coming and goings.
“You plan but expect it might change,” Roy muses.
“You think it’s going to be easier when they grow up but it’s the big kids that seem to take up all the time now.”
Emma agrees: “We always expect the unexpected. It’s a bit ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and as Team Hann we can figure it out.”
Team Hann to the rescue
Certainly, having lots of kids can be useful.
Roy gives an example, following a recent “disaster”.
“My daughter’s bathroom flooded, but we were able to call on Team Hann to clean up the mess when the kitchen ceiling then fell down!”
“You’ve got that massive resource to pull on when something goes wrong.”
Both Emma and Roy – who also have two grandkids – work hard.
Roy is an advanced nurse practitioner at King’s Cross Hospital and has a part-time job with the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Emma owns Empire State Coffee.
How does family cope with costs?
But still, with the cost of living rocketing, how do they cope with such a big family?
“Things have changed,” reflects Roy. “Now, instead of the kids needing toys or clothing, it’s like: ‘dad, can I get a deposit for a flat?’.”
Emma laughs. “The costs have come down in various ways. It’s not just Roy with one income and 13 children, which is what we lived on for a long time.
“And they all do their best to do things independently. They know the bank of mum and dad is not great.
“There are hand-me-down clothes and mobile phones, and some of the younger ones do little jobs.”
What does a Hann family day look like?
Is there a typical day in Hann family life, I wonder? Or is it total chaos?
“We set an alarm for 7am,” says Emma. “At 7.30am we wake up the three that go to high school.
“They get themselves ready and trot off pretty easily. Then we double check on the college one.
“I wake Meg at 8am and she walks down the road herself. They can all trot back home themselves. There’s always someone here.
“We’re a bit ‘tag-team’. It’s a bit chaotic but it works. They can walk, but the free bus pass has been a Godsend.”
Emma admits there were days, when the kids were younger, when she didn’t think she would “make it”.
“Thank goodness that’s over!” she smiles. “Gone are the days of lifting kids out of bed and putting their shoes on. The house was just mad.
“Two school runs, kids everywhere, babies in car seats and all that. These days it’s so much easier.”
Why did Emma return to work?
After 28 years of dedicating her life to bringing up her kids, Emma returned to work in 2018, buying Empire State Coffee.
At the time, she revealed working there was “easier than home” – and helped combat feelings of isolation and loneliness.
“Empire came along when Meg, my youngest, was about to start school,” she explains.
“I hadn’t thought what that looked like – all of them being away and not having to do school runs.
“I was looking forward to having a bit of peace and quiet and having the house to myself. But when the café came along it was an exciting prospect.
“It’s like another baby, really. You have to jump for whatever needs it has.
“Socialising isn’t something I’ve really done outwith the family – so I love it.”
What about the split from the ‘cult’?
I can’t chat to the Hanns without mentioning the Mormon Church.
Their split from the church after becoming disillusioned by its policies and practices has been well documented.
“We started having kids early – and that was 100% because of the influence of the Mormon Church,” says Roy.
“We both came from big families (Emma has seven siblings, and Roy is one of nine) and our parents taught us we were meant to have a big family and not use birth control.
“The Church taught us that God would provide, and everything would be fine.”
And Emma believes the trauma of being raped as a 17-year-old – and being forced to give up her baby for adoption – had a huge impact on her, psychologically.
Having a large family helped distract her from the heartbreak.
“I had no therapy so I didn’t realise the damage that had caused,” she reflects.
“I suppose, in a way, I was trying to replace the one I didn’t get to keep.”
The couple left the Mormon Church after struggling with some of the religion’s “discriminatory” attitudes to race and LGBTQI issues.
“It’s a cult and we don’t want to be part of it anymore,” scowls Roy.
“We didn’t feel it was a safe place for our family. It’s very patriarchal – it’s not a good place for a woman.
“When you’ve got untrained men asking your daughters about their virtue and chastity, all kinds of sexual things, you have to start asking questions.”
‘We were brainwashed’
It took the couple years of “deconstruction” before they decided to leave.
Now only one of their children has a “loose connection” with the church.
“It made us angry – we’d given everything,” says Emma. “We’d been brought up in this and didn’t know any different. It was just lies. We were brainwashed.
“I could see there was an air of cruelty towards some people.
“There was a petition against gay marriage, and they took note of those who didn’t sign.
“As laws changed, the church tried to bully homosexual members by not allowing their children to participate. They were basically ostracised.
“After a while, I felt that even sitting on the pew indicated I agreed with their policies.
“Now, the church says members are allowed to be gay – as long as they’re celibate.
“Basically, for a gay person in the Mormon Church, there’s no hope.”
Bullied over his name
The Hann family hit the headlines again in 2022 when their son Enos, then 14, was bullied over his name.
In one incident, Enos was kicked in the head and hit with rocks.
“It’s a Mormon name and people were distorting and making fun of it,” says Emma.
“We asked if he wanted to change it and he said no. He likes it now.”
On the subject of names, and with so many to remember, do Roy and Emma ever get them confused?
“All the time – especially if we’re annoyed!” laughs Roy. “But we got the girls necklaces with their names on them for Christmas. That helps!”
Plans to mark 35th anniversary?
It’s a special year for Roy and Emma, with the couple marking 35 years of marriage in December. They’re not sure how they’ll celebrate, but they promise to reveal all.
Perhaps they could take a relaxing holiday?
“That’s a possibility,” says Emma. “We went to Turkey on a package holiday last year, and ended up with 10 of the kids coming.
“It was amazing! We’re keen to do something like that again.
“Roy normally does a camping trip once or twice a year, and the two of us get away for wee trips to Edinburgh.”
If anyone deserves a break, the Hanns do – so it’ll be interesting to see what they get up to next.
- The Courier contacted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for comment on the Hanns’ views. As yet, there’s been no response.
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