infant twins on beach
Jade Small
Jade Small
December 18, 2023 ·  4 min read

Mom of 10 is raising her biological son and adopted twins as triplets – “Don’t tell them they’re not”

Raising children is a tough job. Many people find joy in raising their children, but cannot deny the difficulties they face as parents every day. One mother is raising 12 children. Six of them are adopted, and the other four are her biological children. She has warmed the hearts of the internet for raising her adopted twins and her biological son as triplets. Despite the obvious challenges, she loves every minute of her job as a mother of many.

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Adopted twins become triplets!

The average family has one or two children. On the other hand, there are some families who have four or five children, and their friends just wonder, how do they do it? Alicia Dougherty is the mother of 12 children. Although, seven of them are adopted. This can seem like an overwhelming duty for many people, but Alicia loves being a mother. She describes their everyday life on the family’s TikTok page, the ‘doughertydozen‘. One of her most popular videos is where he told the world how she is raising her adopted twins and biological son as triplets.

@doughertydozen

Reply to @iluvb3nadryl Don’t tell them they’re not Triplets or they will tear you apart 🤣 #Triplets

♬ Hey Brother – Avicii
video credit: TikTok / Doughterydozen

Both the adopted twins and Alicia’s biological son are the same age. All three of them were born in 2014, and they attend second grade together. What seemed natural for Alicia, is raising them as triplets. “Our adopted twins and biological son are all born in 2014 and in second grade and have been raised as triplets most of their lives,” said Alicia. “Don’t tell them they’re not triplets or they will tear you apart.”

The world was captured by the love the boys share with one another. Their devotion was noted by many, who were quick to comment that it doesn’t matter what color their skin is. One person commented: “Doesn’t matter about the skin color you can see how much love they have for each other… triplets for life.” A second comment read, “They can be whatever they want to be!!!!!!” and lastly, another commenter said: “Such beautiful triplets!”

Read: These two insist they are twins and have the perfect response for anyone who disagrees

Some were quick to judge

Despite the obvious love the adopted twins and her biological son share is. Nor how blatantly they love being triplets. Alicia found she still received negative remarks from some people. Many people might let this get them down. However, Alicia knows that raising so many children is what she is meant to be doing. So, her light continues to shine while she ignores the negativity commented by some people, whom she calls “trolls“.

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“Happiness comes from knowing we are worthy of being our true, authentic selves. We see the negativity. But we brush it off. Because we know it comes from other people’s insecurities and triggers. It’s not on us. It’s on them. I appreciate those of you who have checked in on us over the past few weeks as we’ve been massively trolled by unhappy, insecure people. I promise you, we are good.”

Adopted twins, her son, and seven more

The Doughterdozen TikTok page has a whopping 4.9 million followers. They all eagerly await her updates on the adopted twin triplets. Additionally, she posts about their day-to-day lives as a very large family. Including the difficulties, she and her husband face as parents. Not only do they have a lot of attention to spread out, but she revealed how each of her adopted children suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and has behavioral issues. Alicia now uses her TikTok account to shed some light on children with similar issues.

After their first adopted son, Alex, displayed some of the aforementioned difficulties, they worked out great methods for handling his “meltdowns.” They were given permission to adopt more children. “So many people gave up on these kids,” said Alicia in an interview with People. “But, they knew we wouldn’t.” she added, “We became known as the parents who could handle the difficult behaviors.”

Long shopping lists!

With 10 children to care for, they also had much larger shopping list then most families. Alicia revealed in a post what her weekly shop looks like. “The following will last us for almost one week plus I had to get supplies for the boy’s football party later today. I did not get apples we’re going to go apple picking for those later. I did get produce including 25 bananas,” she explained as she moved the camera to show each item.

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“Some snacks including 191 packs of chips. Bread for the week, a few boxes of cereal. Dairy for the week including 14lbs of cheese, lunchables, coffee, some canned goods, meat including 12.5lb chicken. 6lb of pasta and a few random things and that’s all for today!”

Keep Reading: Woman gives birth to twins from 2 different dads, her husband & her lover

Sources

  1. Mom raises her adopted twins, biological son as triplets.NY Post. Anna Roberts, The Sun. May 21, 2022.
  2. “Parents of 10 Give ‘Great Life’ to 6 Adopted with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.” People. Alexandra Rockey Fleming. August 20, 2020
  3. NY mom with 12 kids praised for raising adopted twins and biological son as triplets.Meaww. Ritika Singh. May 22, 2022