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She's not a weirdo "with a breeding kink," says mom-of-12 Veronica Merritt, from Syracuse, New York.
“I love growing my family so I would be completely fine with any number of kids,” the 37-year-old freelance artist says.
From an early age Veronica craved being part of a big family because of the lack of love she received growing up.
“Growing up was hard. My mom had a brain injury and my dad remarried, so I never had traditional picket-fence upbringing.”
She was just 14 and in high school when she had her first child in 1999, with her then-boyfriend, who she married three years later.
They had a second child and divorced in 2005.
Soon after she met her second husband with whom she had 10 children - nine of them were consecutive pregnancies. Veronica has been separated from her husband since 2021, she says.
Now the single mom is a parent to Victoria (23), Andrew (18), Adam (17), Mara (15), Dash (14), Darla (12), Marvelous (10), Martalya (8), Amelia (6), Delilah (5), Donovan (3) and Modi (1).
Having 12 children is far from cheap, says Veronica, who told the New York Post she spends about $2 500 (R47 500) on groceries each month and $4 000 (R76 000) on clothing each year, from thrift stores and bargain shopping.
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To cut costs, Veronica home-schools her children.
“It’s about $25 000 (R475 000) for a child to go to public school every year. It’s actually cheaper [for society] if I keep mine home."
She teaches them using YouTube and online education platforms.
The family lives in a nine-bedroom home that Veronica bought at an auction "at a reasonable price", and they get around in an old bus which comfortably accommodates all of them.
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As Veronica's freelance income is not stable enough to meet their needs, she relies on government benefits such as food stamps worth $1 500 (R28 500) and a monthly child grant payment of $2 000 (R38 000) to sustain her household.
Known as "ThisMadMam" on social media where she documents her family life, she's faced plenty of criticism for her large family but it doesn't bother her one bit.
“I don’t listen to the haters. Do they really think I’m going to be hurt by their opinions? I mean, come on!”
Veronica remains adamant that she wants to have at least as many kids as British reality TV family the Radfords, who have 22 children.
But, she adds, she's not going to have children with just anyone.
“I constantly get offers from guys offering to be my next baby-daddy, but I think they’re gross. People get mixed up with the fact that I like having kids and that I have some kind of breeding kink.
“If I could find a guy with 10 kids of his own, we could make our own giant family that would be perfect."
SOURCES: THESUN.CO.UK, NYPOST.COM, INSTAGRAM,YOUTUBE.COM
