36-year-old mother reveals she is pregnant with her TWELFTH child

A 36-year-old mother who got pregnant with her firstborn at age 14 has revealed that she is expecting her twelfth child — just a few months after she admitted she and her husband never use contraception. 

Veronica Merritt, from New York, announced the news on her @thismadmama TikTok and Instagram accounts by sharing a video from her ultrasound appointment, which she filmed despite the sign prohibiting recording and photography. 

‘Unjust rules must be broken. Or something like that,’ she captioned the footage on Instagram, adding the hashtags ‘#12kids’ and ‘#cheaperbythedozen.’ 

Kids: Veronica is mom to Victoria, 21, Andrew, 16, Adam, 15, Mara, 13, Dash, 12, Darla, 10, Marvelous, eight, Martalya, six, Amelia, four, Delilah, three, and Donovan, one

Big reveal: Veronica shared a video from her ultrasound appointment, which she filmed despite the sign prohibiting recording and photography

In 1999, Veronica was 14 and had just started the ninth grade when she learned she was three months pregnant with her first child Victoria, who is now 21. 

Five years later, she and her first husband welcomed their son Andrew, 16. 

The TikToker often receives comments from viewers who assume her 11 children all have different fathers, but that isn’t the case. 

After her divorce, she married her second husband Marty, 37, and they went on to have seven more children.

They’re parents to Adam, 15, Mara, 13, Dash, 12, Darla, 10, Marvelous, eight, Martalya, six, Amelia, four, Delilah, three, and Donovan, one, as well as their baby on the way. 

Teen mom: In 1999, Veronica was 14 and had just started the ninth grade when she learned she was three months pregnant with her first child Victoria

Looking back: ‘I don’t think children should be having sex, but I believe if you do find yourself pregnant young, you should know that being a mother is beautiful!’ she said 

Story: Five years later, she and her first husband welcomed their son Andrew, 16. After their divorce, she married her second husband Marty, and they went on to have seven more children

Twenty years apart! Veronica’s oldest child Victoria (left) is 21 while her youngest Donovan (right) is one

Candid: Veronica has nearly 100,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares videos about her life with her 11 kids, who wear color-coded clothing and can’t date until 18

While speaking to The Sun in August, Veronica opened up about her large family, saying she and her husband never use contraception because of her health issues. 

‘I graduated high school with honors. I attempted college but got sick both times,’ she explained. ‘I have kidney disease and lost my kidney last year.’  

‘Some of the children were planned,’ she added. ‘But I can’t take hormonal birth control because my illness means I am prone to blood clots.’ 

Veronica, who spent eight-and-a-half years pregnant, suffered a miscarriage earlier this year and wasn’t sure her body was physically capable of carrying another child. 

‘I haven’t ruled out more children,’ she said at the time. ‘I would like to have six more.’ 

Listen up: Earlier this year, Veronica explained she couldn’t use hormonal birth control because she has kidney disease and is prone to blood clots

Honest: The mom miscarried earlier this year and wasn’t sure if she would be able to carry another baby, but she said she’d like to have six more if she could

Lots of room: The family lives in a nine-bedroom fixer-upper home that they bought for $20,000, and she has been driving her kids around in a school bus for years

Say what? A few months before she announced her pregnancy, she shared that she would like to have six more kids 

Veronica has nearly 100,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares videos about her life with her 11 kids, who all wear color-coded clothing. 

Each of the children is assigned a color to wear, a system that Veronica inadvertently started with Victoria and Andrew, whom she dressed in pink and blue based on their genders. 

‘The color-coding system is incorporated into almost everything,’ she said. ‘Anything I can find in their color I’ll buy — their clothes, their toys, their sheets, towels, toothbrushes, cups, and plates. It’s almost obsessive.’ 

The family lives in a nine-bedroom fixer-upper home that they bought for $20,000, and the soon-to-be mom of 12 has been driving her kids around in a school bus for years. 

The former teen mom is admittedly strict, and she has gotten some flack online for preaching abstinence and not allowing her children to date until they are adults. 

‘I don’t allow my kids to date until 18,’ she shared in one post. 

‘I don’t think children should be having sex, but I believe if you do find yourself pregnant young, you should know that being a mother is beautiful!’