00:00I've been pregnant for four decades, and now I'm a mom of 11.
00:04It's on fire, mom!
00:06No! No! No! That's the third class!
00:09People automatically assume that you're on welfare or that you have more than one father for your kids.
00:15Sounds like more than one daddy.
00:17Mom can't keep her face closed.
00:19Do you have any regrets about having so many kids?
00:22Ooh, um...
00:24You guys, the grocery is here. I need everybody to come on and help get the grocery.
00:28If you don't come help, you don't eat.
00:30My name is Erica. I have given birth to 12 kids, but I actually have 11.
00:35Nylena was actually a twin, and she lost her twin during COVID, and I just want to make sure we
00:40still include her.
00:41Good job, Spud.
00:43I spent the majority of my life pregnant, I want to say about 15 to 16 years.
00:48All right, let's start breakfast. Nobody been out open nothing. Didn't I just say don't open nothing?
00:54How would you describe your life in your household with so many children?
00:58It's actually hectic. It's literally something going on every moment of the day. It's exciting and fun, but crazy.
01:05And who got yogurt in my hair? Who got yogurt?
01:09Sorry, sorry, sorry.
01:10I say I'm a single married mother because my husband works two jobs, so I'm literally parenting by myself.
01:18The most challenging thing about raising 11 kids is feeding them because they are all big and they eat a
01:24lot.
01:25Is this an average grocery shop for you?
01:27It's actually way more than this.
01:29This is just one day's worth of groceries for Frexie.
01:31We usually get, like, the whole counter's full of groceries or, like, the floor as well, so.
01:37On average, how much do you spend on groceries each month?
01:40Ooh, in a month, I would say at least $3,000.
01:44The most thing that's expensive is food.
01:46Clothing is not really expensive because I kind of shop when everything goes on sale.
01:50I try to wash at least five loads a day.
01:52In the morning time, I start a load. Once that load's finished, we start another load.
01:56And then on the weekend, it's, like, double time.
01:57So each day, we have to wash at least four loads, four to five loads a day.
02:01I actually make my own detergent over here, a big bucket, yeah.
02:05The joy of having older kids, too, is that because they work, they actually help pay for it.
02:10Everybody that lives here have to contribute.
02:13Nigel's here!
02:15Oh, my God, it's the first time seeing you, mama!
02:18Hi!
02:20Hey!
02:21All of the kids live at home except for Nigel, the oldest.
02:24He lives with his wife and her two sisters.
02:26Okay, so how many over-easy eggs is coming out and how many, uh...
02:29Oh, we'll do it like 15.
02:30So a whole container, a whole carton.
02:33Get it out! Get it out!
02:34It's on fire, mom!
02:36It is not on fire.
02:37It is on fire!
02:39The kids help out with everything.
02:41I'm not cleaning up after no grown kids.
02:43Everyone has to mop.
02:44Everyone has to sweep.
02:45Everyone has a day that they do dishes.
02:47And if you didn't do the dishes and didn't show me a picture in the group where all can see
02:52that your dishes are done, they didn't get done.
02:54Cornbread was yesterday, and if he didn't do a picture, he didn't send a picture in the group of his
02:59job being done.
02:59So if that's how cornbread got, it's still your day.
03:03So if he don't take a picture again, he has them again.
03:06Then he's going to have them again.
03:06Yep.
03:06I didn't want kids at first.
03:09I was taken away from my mom when I was three.
03:11I was raised that my mom was my sister and my grandmother was my mom until I was about 10
03:16years old.
03:17It was definitely a confusing time for me.
03:19My husband's name is Clevon, and we met in ninth grade English.
03:22When we did start talking about kids, I said that I wanted a tribe of kids, and he said he
03:27wanted a football team.
03:28As you can clearly see, it's a lot of us, you know, so this is fairly what happens every day.
03:35What were your attitudes towards birth control over the years?
03:38Did you use it?
03:40We actually got pregnant several times on birth control.
03:43I've gotten pregnant on the ring.
03:44I've gotten pregnant on the shot.
03:46I've gotten pregnant on the pill.
03:48I've gotten pregnant on a neuro plant.
03:51So it just doesn't work.
03:53Having kids, I never felt like it was too much.
03:56It would be the amount of C-sections, because I've had seven C-sections.
04:00You're only supposed to have, like, two to three.
04:02So that kind of, once I had seven, I was like, okay, maybe this is time to stop.
04:06And then I had two C-sections in one year.
04:08So that, too, kind of was like, okay, I think it's about time to stop.
04:12What did you grab?
04:12Why would you put your leg at?
04:14I didn't do no best.
04:16Growing up with 10 siblings, I felt like it was never a dull moment and that it was always chaotic.
04:21And I like a little bit of chaoticness every once in a while.
04:24It's pretty fun.
04:24Oh, stop.
04:25Stop asking for help.
04:26Stop.
04:27Bro, you do that on purpose.
04:29Cornbread, what the hell?
04:30That's a third glass.
04:32It's your new glass, Mom.
04:34Take this phone.
04:35Did you have to play, like, a mom role at all for the younger kids?
04:38Yeah, I've been having to play a mom role, and I think that's why I'm a mother now,
04:43because I had the opportunity to be a mother to other kids.
04:46Would you want to have as many kids as your mom when you're older?
04:49Nah, no.
04:51I would not want kids like them.
04:53I know since I'm their sibling, my kids might turn out like them.
04:56I'm not.
04:57From my perspective, they were annoying.
04:59I'm going to be honest.
05:00Everybody annoying.
05:02Especially you.
05:03Tell me to the camera.
05:09I have always been a strict mom.
05:11I've never really had a problem with my older kids, and I think they're still traumatized
05:14from when I was a tough parent.
05:16Naya, you didn't get all the stuff off the counters.
05:20I'm doing that.
05:21Now that I've gotten a little older, my kids think that I'm getting soft.
05:24When the older kids were younger, if something was on the floor, I'm like, get it up right
05:28now.
05:28Now I'm just like, okay, as long as you get up, by the end of the day, we're fine.
05:33Like, if it's not hurting anyone, just leave it alone.
05:36My mom's not as strict as she used to be.
05:38Yeah.
05:39Nah, nah.
05:39Not even close.
05:40Because back in the day, she was just real quick.
05:44It's just.
05:46Throw you into next week.
05:48And they got phones.
05:49They got phones at five years old.
05:51I had a phone in eighth grade, not my first phone.
05:54I didn't even have a phone in eighth grade.
05:55I didn't get a phone until I was in high school, bro.
05:57Yeah, I got a phone at 17.
05:59I take everyone's phone at 10 p.m., even the older kids.
06:03After school, no phone.
06:04It's Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and I still take it at 10.
06:07The older kids mentioned that they didn't get phones until they're older.
06:11Oh, they told.
06:12The younger kids now.
06:14What changed?
06:15Safety.
06:16For me, it's the protection of me being able to reach them while they're at school if anything
06:20happened.
06:22When did you start sharing your family life on social media?
06:26We actually didn't start sharing our family life on TikTok or YouTube.
06:30Nydia just started involving me in her videos, playing pranks on me, and just doing little
06:36stuff to me.
06:37We did something to her.
06:39She ended up chasing us around the room with, like, a belt and stuff.
06:43So I was like, okay, they enjoy that.
06:45So we ended up having her more in our content.
06:48You team on?
06:48Yep.
06:49We had a couple videos go viral.
06:51She did a video where she said, my mom has been pregnant this many times, and so that
06:56video kind of went viral.
06:57I never recorded with my dad.
06:59He's not a camera person at all.
07:01So I plan to get an introduction of him.
07:04Mom!
07:04Dad!
07:05Come here!
07:06All right.
07:07Say hi to Mama Hughes.
07:09This is my father of all 12 of my siblings.
07:12Hey, what's up, everybody?
07:14Judgment and negativity.
07:15It's always, uh, you guys have so many kids.
07:18How do you feed them?
07:19People automatically assume when you have a lot of kids that you're on welfare or a government
07:24assistant.
07:24That's not always the case.
07:26We do work jobs.
07:28And then they automatically assume that you have more than one father for your kids.
07:31That's not always true either.
07:32Sounds like more than one daddy.
07:37Nope.
07:38Nope.
07:39Just one dad.
07:40For all of us.
07:42Mom can't keep her legs closed.
07:44Uh-uh.
07:45Sad.
07:46Not a flex.
07:47Hey, I don't know this is your problem, buddy, but I don't have a great time.
07:53I just don't have the time of the day to worry about someone else worrying about me.
07:59It's just not important to me.
08:00So negative comments, you can write them a thousand times.
08:04They do not matter.
08:05Uh, they say so basically your mama is a breeder.
08:10Who wrote this?
08:11I'm a breeder.
08:12It's in my blood.
08:13Mama, stop.
08:14Stop.
08:15Do you have any regrets about having so many kids?
08:18Ooh, um, I don't have any regrets about having so many kids.
08:22I probably would have had more if I hadn't had seven C-section.
08:26But yeah, it's really a lot of fun.
08:28Being a mom taught me that you cannot take everything serious.
08:32You cannot get upset about what these kids do.
08:34And my hope for my kids is that they do something that they enjoy.
08:37I always tell them, go to school and do something that you love and enjoy so you can continue to
08:42do it.
08:42And my hope for my family is eventually I would like to be on a farm with all of the
08:48kids and just doing our own little thing somewhere all far away.
08:52Would you all like to have your own large families in the future or how many grandkids are you guys
08:57going to get to care of?
08:58I would not like to have any more kids.
09:00This is it right here.
09:02I'm going to just take care of my nephews and nieces.
09:04I want, I want 15.
09:05I want 15 in my life.
09:07I want to be like my mama.
09:08If we all had 10 grandkids, you would have a hundred and one, a hundred and.
09:13No, no.
09:15I forgot how to count.
09:18A hundred and ten.
09:20A hundred and ten grandkids.
09:21That's to me.
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