With 13 children under her wing, most would think that Medway’s supermum Tania Sullivan has more than enough on her plate.

But Tania and husband Mike, from Hoo, have “adopted” four more youngsters from poverty-stricken countries across the world.

Now the 41-year-old mum and her daughter Caitlin are preparing to fly to Uganda to meet orphaned teenager Opisia Doreen whom they have been supporting with health care and education for the last eight years.

The family’s involvement with the global child care charity Compassion started after Tania was told she was showing signs of a miscarriage with her sixth child Oliver, now aged six. As the couple feared the worst, Tania started to research the charity’s work.

She said: “I was going through an emotional time. I felt I was losing a baby and I wanted to replace it. I read up about the charity and everything it was doing was transparent.”

Within a week they had sponsored Opisia, now 15, and Hilario, a 10-year-old from Honduras. Happily, Tania’s pregnancy with Oliver ended happily and he shares a birthday with Hilario.

The Sullivans also sponsor a Wajeeda, 15, from Sudan and nine-year-old Richecarde, paying £25 a month for each of them to improve their way of life.

The family, of Aveling Close, keep in touch with their sponsored children by writing letters and sharing photographs.

Tania, a blogger with www.largerfamilylife.com, said: “What Compassion does is change lives. People say ‘how do you cope’ but how difficult is it to write a letter?”

Caitlin, 16, will be accompanying her mother to see projects undertaken in the African country on Friday, June 10 – immediately after she sits an exam.

It will be first time they have met Opisia and it will be a surprise for the teenager, who is now looked after by her sick grandmother in the eastern township of Jinja.

Caitlin said: “Receiving the letters is often a bittersweet experience. It makes us realise what we have here and what they have not got. She always ends her letters: ‘thank you for loving me’. It’s going to be very emotional meeting her for the first time.”

Tania added: “It put things in perspective. Here, we get stressed out if we can’t get hold of the right gadget. It makes you appreciate how lucky we are. We don’t have to worry if we get sick or about being educated.”

While they are on their six-day trip, dad Mike, a 43-year-old joiner, will be looking after Harry, 13, Eddie, 11, Sid, 10, Patrick, eight, Oliver, six, Joseph, five, twins Anna and Libby, four, Isobel, three and Tim, two.

Tania has two other children from a previous relationship, Ben, 23, and Stephanie, 22. The couple also have a two-month-old grandson, Oscar.

She said: “Mike’s always been a hands-on dad and he he’s more than capable of coping while we’re away. He is a brilliant dad.”