EXCLUSIVE: What’s it like raising 14 children in one household? Just ask Deon and Karen Derrico.
The stars of TLC’s reality TV show “Doubling Down with the Derricos” are proud parents of quintuplets, triplets, two sets of twins and singletons -- all conceived naturally.
And after being asked numerous times over the years how they manage it all, the couple was willing to open their doors and give America a sneak peek into their seemingly sleepless lives.
In the series, Karen and Deon aim to offer “open and honest dialogue” about raising multiple children, while giving viewers an unfiltered look into their growing family.
The pair spoke to Fox News about why they greenlighted the idea of cameras documenting their lives, what’s it really like quarantining with 14 children and the misconceptions people still have about their household.
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Fox News: What made both of you say yes to the idea of having cameras follow your family around for a show like this one?
Deon Derrico: We had many challenges that we were faced with having the multiples, having the quintuplets, things that we didn't know. We didn't have someone readily available to assist us. We had to do this trial and error.
So with that being said, finding out that we really had the knack all alone, it was just innate in us, we wanted to offer this to other people. We have had many challenges that you will see throughout our series that we have endured and have overcome. We look forward to helping others. We understand our purpose was to come here and help, because she and I always have helped people. Never imagined helping people on this large of a scale, but… it betters our souls if you will.
Fox News: When the two of you first started dating, did you ever discuss how many children you wanted to have? What were some of the numbers thrown around during that discussion?
Karen Derrico: It was actually not a number, per se, that we had. It wasn't like a set, like, "We're going to have only 14 children." It was nothing like that. He asked me and I was like, "I just wanted as many children as God blessed me to have," and that left it open. So here we are now. We're thankful and grateful there's 14.
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Fox News: What's it really like quarantining with 14 children?
Karen: It’s not really bad to be honest because we pull out games. We're a very musical family. We all love dancing. So we'll start the soul train line or we'll start playing different television shows, “So You Think You Can Dance,” or something like that. We have our judges and our panels. We just start reenacting games and things.
We talked to them and let them know why we can't go to certain places ... the reasons why we have to stay safe as a family. Only my husband can go out or something like that. But we just try to have as much fun in the house and order a lot of snacks.
Deon: We make almost everything a game. When we can, almost everything is turned into a game. If we don't have enough candy to go around, we will turn that into a game as to who gets the candy or who gets the cake... it's almost like we're living vicariously through them. So that's a lot of fun for us. And I think that's one of the things you'll see continuously echoed in our show -- we’re sort of going back in time ourselves.
Fox News: What are some misconceptions you feel people still have about your family?
Deon: One of the misconceptions is that we're receiving government assistance and we're not. Another misconception is that because we have so many children, our home is either nasty or there's no order, which is totally opposite. I have OCD and [Karen] has an excellent ability to organize and label.
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So I think people think that because we're a large family, there's no way we can maintain that sense of order and enjoy it. They think it's a task. Many people say, "Oh my God, that's so many. How do you do it?" We want this. This is a blessing for us. This is not your view of it. It's a blessing to us.
Fox News: How do the two of you make quality time as a couple? How do you keep that romantic spark alive?
Karen: Well, thank God [Deon’s] mother Gigi lives here. She gives us our date nights. Our children are on a great schedule. They're in bed by 8 [p.m.] and we live in a 24-hour city, thank God. If we're not too exhausted, we take advantage of it. That's for sure.
Fox News: Your children are being praised on social media for being so well-behaved and polite. Given that there's 14 of them, how did you make that happen?
Deon: They read off of our energy. That's one. My wife and I have always had a very great relationship as friends. Our marriage just grew off of that. So for one, we mirror them and then they mirror back to us. I think that the way we have things run in our household and then following it, they come to see the benefit of having it.
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Karen: We don't allow temper tantrums, arguing and fights. You express how you feel. It's OK to cry, but you are not throwing a temper tantrum about it. That's just how we talk to them.
Deon: Faith is also our core value. That's who we are… It’s constantly shown in our deliverance and the way we do things naturally. We want to help others. This is just a blessing to be able to give the kind of help that we give and move our family. We want to help other families do the same with their households.
"Doubling Down with the Derircos" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on TLC.
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