Baby Boom

With two teenage daughters at home and triplets still in diapers, Angela Magdaleno8217;s family overflowed from a one-bedroom apartment in south Los Angeles that they strained to afford. On July 6, she gave birth to two boys and two girls, drawing national media attention as a bewildered mother of 10 with nine living at home. Now, she and her husband, Alfredo Anzaldo 44 must figure out how to provide for everyone on Anzaldo8217;s maximum pay of 400 a week as a carpet installer.

Magdaleno and Anzaldo are illegal immigrants, settled for years in an immigrant enclave. Magdaleno has the same number of children as her parents, who were peasant farmers in Mexico. Like her parents, she is living in poverty and struggling as a provider. 8216;8216;It8217;s not sweet,8217;8217; says her sister Alejandra. 8216;8216;It8217;s very sad. The life for girls back there in Mexico is the same as the one Angela has now. They marry and have children, and that8217;s their lives.8217;8217;