Alicia Dougherty and her family of 12 became Instagram and TikTok stars during the pandemic when schools were closed. The 40-year-old mom went viral with videos showing her preparing food for her kids at 5 a.m.
Alicia's journey to motherhood was a long one. She tried to have children with her husband, Joshua, for nine years and had 11 miscarriages before deciding, in 2011, to adopt. But, just six days after adopting their first child, Alicia discovered that she was pregnant. Over the course of the next eight years, their family had expanded, and they now have 10 children — four biological and six adopted.
@doughertydozen #SponsoredBySUNNYD Brightening Up My Kids’ Lunches With @SUNNYD What did you have for lunch? #SUNNYD #PackLunchWithMe ♬ Giddy Up Let's Ride - Kinsu
All six of the couple's adopted children suffer from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), a collection of conditions that occur when the pregnant mother consumes alcohol and it passes from mother to baby through the umbilical cord. This condition can cause a combination of severe physical, behavioral and educational problems.
The children — Harley, Bodhi, Jason, Jordan, Dash, Zoe, Barry, Patrick, James and Alex — range in age from 4 to seventeen.
"I got on TikTok during Covid-19 because I was going crazy stuck at home and it just became a fun thing for us to do," Alicia said of her meal preparation videos.
Dogherty Dozen
The family now calls itself the "Dougherty Dozen" and shares its life on the social media platform with more than 4 million TikTok followers and half a million on Instagram. The family account includes videos of everything from trips to laundry to child adoption information.
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How does she manage to do everything?
On school days, Alicia sets her alarm clock as early as 3 a.m. so she can be awake and drink coffee, make breakfast and lunch, and check that homework and water bottles are in the kids’ backpacks.
The teens wake up at 6 a.m. and leave at 7 a.m. Then, Alicia wakes up the next group of children to get them out the door by 8 a.m.
"From 6 to 8 in the morning, it's just crazy. Then I breathe," said Dougherty, who added that she spends at least $1,000 a week on food, and an hour as aforesaid in the preparation of food in the morning.
And they are nowhere done with their mission. "We’re definitely going to adopt again," Alicia said, "We’re going to focus on teens because they have the least chance of being adopted."