A couple is preparing to welcome their 15th child after already having quintuplets, triplets, and twins. And they feel that the life of a large family is chaotic, but they are getting used to it.
Karen, 40, and her husband, Deon Derrico, 49, from Las Vegas, welcomed four consecutive multiple births after giving birth to their two oldest children, Darrian, 16, and Derrick, 11. Twins Dallas and Denver, 10, were the first to come, followed by quintuplets Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician, and Daiten, 8. Karen then delivered twins Diez and Dior, 3, who are often known as the “triples” after tragically losing one. Their triplet brother, Carter, ᴘᴀssᴇᴅ ᴀᴡᴀʏ just hours after giving birth.
While all of the Derrico children have names that begin with the letter ‘D’, Carter was the exception because his parents wanted to give him a memorable and unique name. Karen and Deon welcomed triplets Dawsyn, De’Aren, and Dyver into their family in 2019, bringing their total to 14.
“All of whom were ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɪᴠᴇᴅ naturally,” Karen said. “We both have multiples on both sides of our family. But we have the most multiples that anyone has ever heard of. After our oldest, I had two ᴍɪsᴄᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇs. When I became pregnant, the doctor started me on ᴘʀᴏɢᴇsᴛᴇʀᴏɴᴇ to sustain my pregnancy. But all of our children were naturally convinced. Not one round of I.V.F.”
The couple has now revealed that they are welcoming their 15th child. Deon can be seen questioning Karen about her weird food cravings as she munches on pickles. The couple admit that they have their “good days and bad days,” but say there’s always enough love to go round. They say they had to find creative ways to keep their kids busy during ᴘᴀɴᴅᴇᴍɪᴄ.
Parents Karen and Deon Derrico work hard to get their 14 children ready for the day, but it’s not easy. “It’s like a ballet here in the mornings at the Derrico house,” she said. “Everything is a jumble. ‘Have a seat, eat your breakfast, and let’s get everything together,’ we have to remind them all the time. When they’re down, it’s unmistakably a job. Keeping everyone dressed and nourished might feel like a costly Olympic sport at times. Oh, my goodness, the amount of money we spend on food. Monthly income ranges from $2,500 to $3,500. We go through 15 waffle boxes and 20 rolls of toilet paper in a week.”
But Karen isn’t resentful. She added, “This is us, this is our life. Not only did we choose to have a large family, but we also opted to make sure that we could provide for it.”
