HEAVY LOAD

I’ve got 14 kids and I’m lucky I can afford it because we spend £2.5k a MONTH on food & go through 20 loo rolls a week

A MUM-OF-14 has revealed she spends £2,600 a month on the food shop - and does 18 loads of laundry every week.

Karen and Deon Derrico, from the US, have four sets of naturally conceived multiples, including quintuplets and triplets.

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Karen and Deon Derrico have 14 kids - including quintuplets and triplets - all conceived naturallyCredit: TLC

Appearing in a preview for new TLC series Doubling Down with the Derricos, Karen admits they spend £2,678 ($3,500) a month "easy" at the supermarket.

Their huge shopping hauls include 20 rolls of toilet roll and 15 packets of waffles every week.

Having a big family certainly doesn't come cheap, and the Derricos spend a fortune to keep everyone well fed. 

As they welcome TLC's cameras into their home, Karen, 40, reveals: "The amount of money that we spend on groceries, oh my gosh. $2,500 (£1,913) to $3,500 (£2,678), easy."

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The family have opened up their home for a new TLC showCredit: Instagram
Mum often dresses the kids the same to make shopping easierCredit: Instagram

"In a week we go through 15 boxes of waffles, 20 rolls of toilet paper," adds Deon, 49.

"Eighteen loads of clothes a week," Karen explains.

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All of our children were naturally conceived. Not one round of IVF

Karen DerricoMum-of-14

Knowing they could provide for their family was an important part of the decision to have so many kids, the parents add.

"I am a stay-at-home mother and my phenomenal, handsome husband over here is a real estate investor (property investor)," Karen says.

"We chose to have a large family. We also chose to make sure we could provide for our large family."

Karen is a stay-at-home mum and Deon is a property investorCredit: Instagram
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Darian, 13, pictured left, often helps her mum with the choresCredit: Instagram

Karen is still pregnant with her youngest kids, the triplets, when filming kicks off.

The parents have multiples on both sides of the family, but Deon says: "We have the most multiples that anyone has ever heard of".

After their first daughter was born, Karen suffered two miscarriages, so was put on progesterone to sustain her next pregnancy.

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The parents spend thousands every month feeding their broodCredit: Instagram
The family get through 15 packets of waffles every weekCredit: Instagram
While mum Karen does 18 loads of laundryCredit: Instagram

"All of our children were naturally conceived. Not one round of IVF," she explains.

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Deon adds: "Having four sets of multiples back to back? It's like getting struck by lightning while getting struck by lightning.

"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."

The original 10 kids in hospital with MumCredit: Instagram
The kids all share one bathroom - teeth brushing must be a busy affairCredit: Instagram
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The couple admit they have their "good days and bad days", but say there's always enough love to go round.

The TLC series, which starts a week today, chronicles a year in their life.

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It begins when Karen is 24 weeks' pregnant with triplets and put on bed rest by her doctor, leaving Deon to look after their huge brood.

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As well as the triplets, the couple are parents to Darian, 13, who helps her mum with the chores; Erek, eight; twins Dallas and Denver, seven; and quintuplets Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician and Daiten, five.

Yesterday we reported on a mum-of-19 with 14 grandchildren - who has five washing machines, three driers and still can’t believe she had more than two kids.

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