At 37, controversial TikToker Veronica Merritt become a grandma — just two months after she herself gave birth to her 12th child.
At age 14, Merritt had her first child — Victoria, who is now 22. She’s also mom to Andrew, 17; Adam, 15; Mara, 14; Dash, 12; Darla, 11; Marvelous, 8; Martalya, 6; Amelia, 5; Delilah, 3; Donovan, 2, and 9-week-old Modi.
The Syracuse woman — who documents her hectic life on TikTok for her more than 205,000 followers — told Insider she was “thrilled” to be a grandmother at 37 years old. She said she was “more than happy” to help take care of the child, who has brought the total number of people in the household to 14.
The mom, known as ThisMadMama, said her first grandchild, Maddilyn Rosalie, and her youngest son will grow up “cousins rather than an uncle and a niece.”
Merritt transports her family in a school bus and admitted that she is often trolled by critics online who disagree with her accepting government assistance checks and not working so she can homeschool her children.
The mom told Insider she relies on a monthly child credit payment of $2,000 and $1,500 in food stamps, and the money she’s received as part of the federal family stimulus plan.
“I think it [the amount] was about $3,000 per kid,” she previously told The Post.
“I Googled it and it’s about $25,000 for a child to go to public school every year [from K-12.] It’s actually cheaper [for society] if I keep mine home,” she added.
Merritt has worked as a freelance artist but has put that on hold while her second-youngest, Donovan, battles a rare form of cancer, admitting she’s “scared” but “proud” of how her toddler is handling his illness.
The mom has been married twice: her first marriage was to the father of her two eldest children, Victoria and Andrew, but they divorced in 2005 and she’s now separated from Marty, who fathered her younger children.
“People can think what they like, but my kids have only two dads,” she said, per The Sun.
The mom of 12 sometimes color-codes her children, dressing them in a different color each.
“The colors reflect their individual personalities,” she told Insider. “But they also keep me grounded.”
The mom said she’s open to having baby No. 13 — but it would have to be with someone “amazing” and she would want to get remarried.
