Keeping the Derrico home running with 14 kids is no walk in the park.
Parents Karen and Deon Derrico get their 14 children ready to start their day and reveal how mornings are a production in TLC’s new series, Doubling Down with the Derricos.
“Mornings here at the Derricos house, it’s like a ballet,” Karen says.
“It’s chaotic. We have to constantly be on them: ‘Have a seat, eat your breakfast, let’s get everything together.’ It’s definitely a job when they get down.”
And feeding the crew isn’t cheap.
“The amount of money that we spend on groceries, oh my gosh,” Karen says. “$2,500-$3,500 a month, easy.”
“In a week we go through 15 boxes of waffles, 20 rolls of toilet paper,” Deon adds.
Karen is a stay-at-home mother while Deon is a real estate investor. They two share 14 children: two singletons, quintuplets, triplets and two sets of twins — all conceived naturally.
“We both have multiples on both sides of our family,” Deon explains. “But we have the most multiples that anyone has ever heard of.”
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“After our oldest, I had two miscarriages,” Karen adds. “Once I became pregnant, the doctor started me on progesterone to sustain my pregnancy. But all of our children were naturally convinced. Not one round of IVF.”
The series follows the couple as they await the arrival of their triplets but when Karen is told she has to spend the rest of her pregnancy in the hospital at 24 weeks, Deon is left to manage the household and take care of 11 children on his own.
“This is us, this is our life,” Karen says. “We chose to have a large family, we also chose to make sure that we can provide for our large family.”
Doubling Down with the Derricos premieres on Aug. 11 at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.