INTRODUCING the Couzens Dozen. Ashley and Jerry are parents to ten children; Alexis, 21, Ashlyn, 19, Tre, 18, Ava, 15, Jerzy, 13, Jett, 12, Adayah, 11, Aila, nine, Jrue, two, and Amora, one. Ashley said: “We're very close as a family. They all support each other - from the oldest to the youngest.” The family love playing sports together including basketball and football and attend each other’s games. Ashley and Jerry then became grandparents at the age of 36 and 38 respectively, as their eldest daughter Alexis gave birth to her son Kash who is now two years old. Ashley said: “We've definitely received some judgement about our daughter having her son, basically saying ‘you're just repeating the cycle’, ‘you had her at 17, she was a teen mom… What kind of example are you setting for her?’” They’ve also received judgement about the size of their family, questioning how they afford it and if Jerry is the father of all ten children. But the family does not let the negativity bother them. Ashley said: “This is my normal. All I know is chaos and shenanigans.”
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00:00I have 10 children and I became a grandma at 36 years old.
00:03My daughter is younger than her nephew.
00:05She was born an aunt.
00:06This is my normal.
00:07All I know is chaos and shenanigans.
00:09Not those, not those.
00:10Why you in here?
00:13People question that whether I'm the dad of all my children.
00:16They said I'm contributing to overpopulation
00:18and also like stop opening your leg.
00:19Would you like to have any more kids?
00:24We're doing French toast.
00:25Someone did want pancakes so if I feel like this at the end
00:28I might make four or five pancakes as well.
00:31Don't want to but I will.
00:33Usually I try to cook at least three times a week.
00:38Breakfast is usually more like a weekend thing.
00:46That depends.
00:47For breakfast everybody is usually good with eggs, pancakes, grits,
00:52bacon, the typical breakfast.
00:54Dinner is when things get a little interesting
00:57because not a lot of dinner things come in big enough sizes for everybody.
01:03My name is Ashley Cousins and I'm 38 years old.
01:05I'm Jerry Cousins Jr. and I'm 40.
01:07The Cousins dozen, yes, because there's two of us.
01:10I'm 10 of them so that's 12 and we are a dozen.
01:13We have 10 kids total.
01:14I think they all were surprises along the way.
01:16I personally thought I was going to be the next Britney Spears or in the WNBA
01:20so I'm not sure what happened here.
01:21We have six girls total.
01:23Alexis, she's 21.
01:25Ashlyn is 19.
01:27Ava is 15.
01:28Adaya is almost 11.
01:31Isla is 9 and our baby Amora is 1.
01:34We also have four boys.
01:37The oldest being Jerry Cousins the third, we call him Trey.
01:40We have Jersey, Jet and what's that little boy?
01:45His name's Drew.
01:46Drew, the little guy, little guy.
01:48Drew, yeah.
01:49We spend a ton of money on just eating out alone and I feel like for me
01:53that's the best way to go.
01:55I've seen my eating out bill be $1,300, $1,400 per month.
02:00Groceries, probably about the same.
02:03It should just stop.
02:04We got to figure out what's going on with that.
02:07All right, you get that taken care of, okay?
02:12You want some eggies?
02:14You want fruit, strawberries, bacon, grits?
02:16All right, great.
02:17You guys can get it how you get it.
02:19Do you have many responsibilities as the second oldest?
02:23Do I have a lot of responsibilities as a second oldest?
02:27See, look, see, yeah.
02:29Yes, I do.
02:30I have a lot of responsibilities.
02:32What are they?
02:34Everything.
02:37We're very close as a family.
02:39They all support each other from the oldest to the youngest.
02:41Whenever anyone has an activity outside or inside, they're their number one fans.
02:46How would you describe your parenting style?
02:49I'm the hammer.
02:51Yeah, he's way more strict.
02:52Our parenting style, he's way more strict than I am.
02:55Let's bring it in, y'all.
02:56Can I give you a kiss on the cheek?
02:58Okay.
02:58I'm kind of like, okay, if they want a Popsicle at 8 a.m.,
03:02for the love of God, give them a Popsicle at 8 a.m.
03:05Bless you.
03:06All right, could you tell us how you broke up, then you got back together?
03:08In 2016, we separated for a few years.
03:12And as time went by, we just kind of started re-acting like we were together.
03:17So yeah, we had two more kids very quickly after that.
03:21And then we actually just recently got married two months ago in June.
03:24How did you feel when Alexis told you she was pregnant?
03:27When I found out that my oldest was pregnant,
03:29there was a split second there that I was taken back like,
03:32oh my gosh, why would she do this to me?
03:35But that quickly went away and we jumped in as Mama Bear and Papa Bear
03:39to help her be the best mom that she could be.
03:41How old were you when you became grandparents?
03:44When we became grandparents, I was 36.
03:46Don't say this too loud. I was 38.
03:48Yeah, it's crazy.
03:51So this is Cash's clothes.
03:53He has two huge buckets of clothes.
03:58I like to do yellow.
03:58I think we're doing yellow today to match with these cute shoes.
04:02So Cash is my two-year-old son.
04:05That's my wuggy.
04:06That's my everything.
04:08Yeah, it's like my happiness in a bundle.
04:11He's a good boy.
04:12Like, he's very sweet.
04:14I got pregnant with Cash when I was 18,
04:16but I ended up actually having him when I was 19.
04:19And how did you feel telling your parents that you were pregnant?
04:21Parents aren't like, they're more on the chill side, I guess you say.
04:25Like obviously growing up, I had what I think was strict parents,
04:27but by the time I was 18 out the house, it wasn't like super scary to tell them.
04:32Yeah, I think my mom, like being a teen mom too,
04:34she definitely had some sort of understanding with me.
04:39Did you experience any judgment around that time,
04:41kind of becoming a mom at 19?
04:44I feel like the only judgment would probably be on social media.
04:48And I'm not gonna say I condone, you know, having kids young.
04:51Honestly, I would say it's not easy.
04:52Like, I'm not promoting that by any means,
04:55but I think we do a really good job at it.
04:57We've definitely received some judgment about our daughter having her son.
05:00Basically saying, oh, you're just repeating the cycle.
05:03You had her at 17.
05:05She was a teen mom, you know.
05:07What kind of example are you setting for her type thing?
05:10My daughter is younger than her nephew.
05:12She was born an aunt.
05:15I love being a young grandparent, man.
05:16I get to enjoy the little dude.
05:18I get to hang out and play with him and stuff.
05:20I really don't feel like a grandparent to him.
05:22A lot of the times he just is like just one of the other kids.
05:25He actually calls me mom.
05:27That's only because, you know, everyone else is calling me mom.
05:29He knows I'm not his mom.
05:31Stuff I like doing with my family is I like to draw with them,
05:34play basketball, of course, football, you know, and just anything really.
05:38Because, you know, when I'm just with them, it's like cool, I guess.
05:40But yeah, mostly outside though.
05:42I like going outside with them.
05:43Ready?
05:44One, two, three.
05:47How did you decide to start sharing your experiences on social media?
05:50It kind of became for me like a little competition thing.
05:53And I just started sharing.
05:55Once I put on there that I had eight kids, then nine kids, then ten kids,
05:59that people were just like, whoa.
06:00And they just tune in for sure.
06:02People love it, man.
06:03It's entertaining for me to see how it's entertaining to people.
06:06So it's just everyday life to me.
06:08I feel like when we do share some personal things there,
06:10the majority of it is great feedback.
06:12People are excited.
06:13They're happy for us, you know.
06:14But then there are a lot of some people who are more negative and
06:18controversial, trolling, if you will.
06:22Some negativity I've received was that I've been accused of
06:26receiving a lot of money from the government because we have so many children
06:29that I'm just having children to receive money from the government.
06:32Another negative feedback I received was that I'm like a like a hoochie mama.
06:38They would think I have a bunch of boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, baby daddies, etc.
06:42When I only have just one.
06:43Not that I'm knocking other women, but I only have just one.
06:46Some things people have said to me, they said I'm like a dog, like a breeder.
06:50And also most recently, like a week ago,
06:52someone told me that having this many kids is like a form of child abuse.
06:56They said I'm contributing to overpopulation.
06:58And also like, stop opening your legs.
07:00Like, oh, she's going to be pregnant within a year.
07:02It's exhausting.
07:04Stop having kids.
07:05It's disgusting.
07:07The list goes on and on.
07:08What I would tell people that have judged my family is
07:11they don't know what it's like, you know, to walk a day in my shoes.
07:14And this to me is normal.
07:16This is my normal.
07:16All I know is chaos and shenanigans.
07:19Yeah, I don't, the judgment doesn't bother me at all.
07:22What people have to say really don't matter.
07:23If they catch it down here, they bring it up.
07:27I love playing sports with my family.
07:28I do it all the time.
07:29Every day right here.
07:30There you go.
07:30Oh, he put that up there for real.
07:32If I had to describe my family in one word, I would probably, um.
07:36I want to say extraordinary to be, you know, cliche.
07:40Definitely extraordinary.
07:41We're great.
07:42Like, I really think we're elite, if you will.
07:45We're just great.
07:47What I see in the future for my family is not hopes.
07:50I'm going to go ahead and speak it to existence.
07:52Success, family, togetherness, a lot of smiles and good times.
07:58I agree.
07:59Would you like to have any more kids?
08:01I personally do not want any more kids.
08:03I think 10 is plenty enough.
08:05I want more kids.
08:06No, I'm kidding.
08:07I don't want any more kids.
08:08I don't want any more kids.
08:09No more kids.
08:10I love them all.