A mom is now raising 14 kids after naturally conceiving quintuplets, triplets, and two sets of twins.
After two miscarriages, Karen, 40, and Deon Derrico, 49, finally bore children and welcomed four sets of multiple births —back to back— after welcoming their two oldest children Darrian, 16, and Derrick, 11.
First came twins Dallas and Denver, 10, followed by Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician, and Daiten, 8.
Karen, later on, delivered twins Diez and Dior, 3, who is often referred to as the “triplins” as their triplet brother Carter, tragically passed away just a couple of hours after delivery.
While all of the Derrico kids are named beginning with ‘D’, Carter was the exception as his parents wanted to give him a special and different name.
And in 2019 Karen and Deon became parents again, welcoming triplets Dawsyn, De’Aren, and Dyver, rounding off their children to a total of 14.
The reason why Karen has conceived so many multiples is due to her overactive ovaries, which causes the release of multiple eggs per cycle.
“Having four sets of multiples back to back is getting struck by lightning while getting struck by lightning,” Deon said. “Many parents know with just one child, two children, it’s a job. But when you have soon-to-be 14, it’s a job.”
“We have our good days and our bad days,” Karen added. “But there’s always enough love.”
With 14 children in tow, Karen runs a tight ship.
Karen is a stay-at-home mother and has a background in childhood education. She ensures that everyone is out of bed at 8 am ready for homeschooling with the two eldest helping their mom.
“We let them know there’s 14 of ya’ll and two of us,” Karen told Zora. “With my early childhood background, I’ve been in those classrooms with one teacher for 20 children.”
“So I felt like God was always preparing me for this, and I never knew it,” Karen said.
However, it seems like God did not prepare Karen for the cost of raising 14 children.
In an interview with People magazine, Karen said that she spends between $2,500 and $3,500 a month on food alone.
But the mother of fourteen is not resentful.
“This is us, this is our life,” Karen added. “We chose to have a large family, we also chose to make sure that we can provide for our large family.”