At 14, she would have had no choice in the matter if she didn't have the support of her parents though. She would have been completely unable to bring him up herself. I think that was the point. But Sue loves to claim they did it all themselves, which is obviously completely untrue.
Yes I've always thought this too. They'll be filming somewhere, say out in the garden, yet not all the little ones will be out there with them and I always think how can she be sure they're safe?
I assume she relies big time on the older ones to keep an eye out, but it's a huge responsibility for people who are still just kids themselves, to have to have eyes in the back of their heads all the time.