I’m a mother of 10 and became a grandmother at 36 – trolls tell me to ‘close my legs’
A mother of 10 who became a grandmother at 36 says she loves her chaotic life and doesn’t listen to internet trolls telling her to close her legs.
Ashley Couzens, 38, gave birth to her first child, Alexis, who is now 21 and just 17 years old.
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She also has Ashlyn, 19, Tre, 18, Ava, 15, Jerzy, 13, Jett, 12, Adayah, 11, Aila, 9, Jrue, 2, and Amora, 1. She shares these children with her husband Jerry, 40.
The family call themselves the Couzens Dozen and say they spend £1,076 a month on eating out alone.
Two years ago, the couple discovered that Alexis was pregnant. At first, they were very shocked, they said.
“For a split second I was stunned and thought, ‘Why would she do this to me?’” Ashley told Truly.
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But she and Jerry soon turned around and made sure Alexis “became the best mother she could be.”
“I think my mom, being a teenage mom, had some kind of understanding for me too,” said Alexis, whose son Cash is now 2.
Alexis said she received a lot of criticism online for having a child at such a young age.
She added that she doesn’t condone having children at a young age, but she does think she did a very good job.
Ashley added that people accuse her of setting a bad example for Alexis by getting pregnant so young.
Jerry said he loves being a young grandparent because he gets to “hang out with him and play and stuff.”
But Ashley says she doesn’t even feel like a grandparent, adding that Cash calls her “Mom” because that’s what all the other kids call her.
Ashley and Jerry have been sharing their experiences with an extremely large family on social media and their videos have become extremely popular.
They said they get a lot of positive feedback from fans, but they have also been the victim of a lot of trolls.
Trolls accuse Ashley of having children to get money from the government, and say they don’t believe Jerry is the father of all her children.
The largest families in the world
Yalancia and Michael may have 10 children, but there are parents with even more. Here are some of the largest, monogamous families in the world:
The Vassilyev family
This family currently holds the record for the most children raised by one couple. The matriarch gave birth to 69 children, including 16 sets of twins and seven sets of triplets.
Mrs. Vassilyev gave birth to a total of 69 children, including 16 sets of twins and 7 sets of triplets. Of the 69 children, 67 survived childhood.
The Radfords
Sue and Noel are parents of 22 children and their hectic family life is documented in the reality series 22 Kids and Counting.
The couple are still adamant that they don’t want any more children, but the number of grandchildren they have is increasing. Their daughters Sophie and Millie are both mothers of three.
The Duggars
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar have 19 children: 10 sons and 9 daughters.
The names of all their children begin with the letter J.
They also had their own reality show in the United States and became a household name as a result.
The Bates Family
Kelly and her husband Gil Bates have 19 children.
Of the 19 deliveries, 14 occurred naturally.
The couple now has 28 grandchildren, with four more on the way.
The Dougherty Dozen
Mother Alicia regularly shares videos and photos of her family.
Together with her husband Josh, she has four biological children and they adopt or care for the rest of their brood.
The Rosario family
Yalancia and her husband Michael are the parents of 11 children.
Earlier this year they welcomed their first daughter together and are also the parents of Jamel (15), Michael Jr (11), Angelo (10), Gimani (7), Armani (6), Sincere (3) and Khaza (2).
Their fourth son, also named Armani, was stillborn.
She said: “Someone told me that having so many children is a form of child abuse. They said I contribute to overpopulation and told me to stop spreading my legs.”
However, Ashley says the judgment doesn’t bother her because her lifestyle is normal for her.
“All I know is chaos and craziness,” she said.
Ashley and Jerry said they don’t want any more children now and are happy with their family the way it is.
“I think we are extraordinary, we are amazing, I really think we are elite,” she said.
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