I moved in with my man after a one-night stand – now we have 11 kids & feeding them takes 4 trolleys for just snacks

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

LIFE could have been very different for Alicia Dougherty had she not had a one-night stand with her now-husband Josh.
The lovebirds decided to move in together after just one day - and now have a staggering 11 kids together.
6
Alicia and teacher husband Josh raise 11 kids together near New York
Credit: instagram/@doughertydozen
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The couple have four biological children of their own and have adopted or fostered the rest
Credit: instagram/@doughertydozen
The New York-based family went viral in 2021 after they started posting TikTok videos of their family life on their Dougherty Dozen page, which now has 7.5million followers.
Fans have been left stunned at Alicia's
The mum shared how their bumper family began,
'And now we are a family of 13. Guess it was meant to be.'
More on large families
The couple's kids aren't all biologically their own, and Alicia and Josh, a teacher, reportedly suffered 11 heartbreaking miscarriages before deciding to foster and adopt.
However, just days after fostering their first son, Alex, in 2010, Alicia learned she was pregnant.
The rest was
history
as Alicia and Josh went on to welcome four biological children - Zoey, Dash, Bodhi, and Harlee - while also adopting/fostering Alex, James, Jordan, Jason, Patrick, Bree, Nevaeh, and Dayshawn.
Six of the Doughertys' adopted children have Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum
Disorders (FASD), which is where alcohol passes from a mother to her baby through the umbilical cord.
Most read in Fabulous
Of course, keeping all those mouths fed isn't easy, and Alicia, who wakes up at 4am to get organised,
Lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches, with soup and fruit - and then they popped to Walmart to get a 'snack', which required a whooping four trolleys.
I'm a mum-of-12, I feed my kids on three takeaways a day, I spend a fortune and people troll me but it's my money
The family then went to the cinema, with Alicia splashing out on a large popcorn box for each kid.
Finally, she used a gigantic metal dish for a goulash dinner and garlic bread.
This was all on top of Alicia managing to keep on top of the family's five loads of laundry per day.
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Alicia gets up at 4am to get breakfast and the house ready for the kids
Credit: instagram/@doughertydozen
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Lunch is grilled cheese sandwiches
Credit: instagram/@doughertydozen
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Alicia fills four trolleys full of items during her Walmart shop
Credit: instagram/@doughertydozen
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Each kid gets their own box of popcorn at the cinema
Credit: instagram/@doughertydozen
Parenting life doesn't phase dad Josh either, who is inspired to be the father figure he never had, claims Alicia.
She told Today: 'Josh was raised by a single mom who worked three
jobs
.
'And so Josh loves having this big family that's always together.'
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The Vassilyev family
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Mrs. Vassilyev has given birth to a total of 69 children, including 16 pairs of twins and 7 sets of triplets. 67 of the 69 children survived infancy.
The Radfords
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The pair have remained adamant that they won't be having any more kids, but the amount of grandchildren they have is ever expanding, with daughters Sophie and Millie both mums of three.
The Duggars
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They also had their own reality show in the United States, and became household names because of it.
The Bates family
Kelly also has 19 children, with her husband Gil Bates.
Of 19 deliveries, 14 of them were natural.
The couple also have 28 grandchildren, with four more on the way.
The Dougherty Dozen
Mum Alicia frequently shares videos and pictures of her family.
She and husband Josh have four biological children together, as well as adopting or fostering the rest of their brood.
The Rosario family
Yalancia and husband Michael are parents of 11.
They had their first daughter together earlier this year, and are also parents to Jamel, 15, Michael Jr, 11, Angelo, 10, Gimani, seven, Armani, six, Sincere, three and Khaza, two.
Their fourth son, also named Armani, was stillborn.