Karen Derrico.Photo: Karen Derrico/Instagram
Before becoming a mom to 14 children,Doubling Down with the Derricos' Karen Derrico didn’t know if she could get pregnant.
The stay-at-home mom and her real estate investor husband Deon Derrico — who return to TLC on Tuesday with season 2 of their family reality series — are parents to Darian, 15, Derrick, 10, 9-year-old twins Dallas and Denver, 7-year-old quintuplets Deonee, Daician, Daiten, Deniko and Dariz, 4-year-old Diez and Dior, and 1½-year-old triplets Dawsyn, De’Aren and Dyver.
Although breastfeeding wasn’t a method modeled to Karen when she was growing up, that “bond” was something she wanted and set out to do with all of her children.
Derrico family.TLC
“It is so important for me to talk about it. It’s funny because I started this journey, like I said, not knowing if we’d be able to have children. And I remember one of my prayers was, ‘God, oh, if you just bless me to give birth, I’m going to do everything right like a mom is supposed to do.’ And breastfeeding was No. 1,” she says.
“I didn’t have no one that I could model behind within my family to say, ‘Hey, how was it like breastfeeding?’ It was something that I just naturally wanted to do. And I thank God that it happened naturally for me,” says Karen.
Having had preemie babies of her own, Karen says she realized “how important it is for mothers to breastfeed.”
While learning more about it, Karen also discovered how uncommon breastfeeding is for those in her community. “Then I found out how so many people in my community don’t do it,” she says.
But for mothers who aren’t able to breastfeed, or don’t desire to, Karen is supportive of whatever choice is best for them and their family. “There shouldn’t be any judgmental thoughts given to people, to women, who do not want to do it or who cannot do it. It shouldn’t be that way,” she says.
“I did it with all 14 of my children and I had to do it differently when it came to Dawsyn. I had to pump and then give it to her because of what she went through with having her open-heart surgery,” she explains about her 1½-year-old daughter.
“I can’t imagine how we got in this topsy-turvy way of people being offended to see something so natural that God blessed us with so naturally, happen. … That’s why God produces it that way. So for me, it makes me love my wife that much more, just watching. And she’s teaching our babies how to love all of us,” adds Deon.
For women who are feeling uncertain about beginning their breastfeeding journey, Karen encourages: “You can do this.”
She’s also grateful for the connections she’s established with her fans and supporters.
Doubling Down with the Derricospremieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
source: people.com
