Kora Duke had her first baby in 2001, at the age of 17. She was then pregnant for most of the next decade, giving birth to her last child in 2012.

Now 39 years old, she relishes the large family she shares with her partner of 23 years, Andre Duke, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Destined to Be a Mom

According to Statista, the average American household now has 1.94 children under 18. This is a drop from the 2.5-average in the 1960s, with households generally becoming more diverse.

Data collected by Gallup in 2018 found that the number of Americans wanting three or more children had increased. Around 41 percent of adults said this was their “ideal,” but the average family size is still shrinking, due to factors such as economic and environmental concerns.

Duke said she never planned to have nine children, but believes she was destined to be a mom.

“In India, we have our horoscopes done when we are born. I received a book that kind of told our future,” she told Newsweek.

“Inside that book, it did say I would have a lot of children and I would be with a very important person.”

Elijah, now 21, came along first, and was followed by 20-year-old Sheena a year later. Next was Zhaan (17), Cairo (15), Saiyah (14), Avi (13), Romani (12) and Tahj (10).

Duke also gave birth to her daughter Yuna in 2004, but she sadly passed away from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) a week later.

She met Andre in high school after spotting him in theater class. Although the couple were young to start a family, Duke’s first pregnancy at 17 was planned, as she was sure she had met the man she was “meant to be with.”

“Motherhood came naturally to me,” Duke said. “With the help of my husband, we were able to overcome a lot of obstacles.”

Nine Children by Age 28

Duke and her family first went viral on TikTok back in April 2022, after she shared a clip of her children alongside the year they were born.

Captioning the clip “Years Not Pregnant, ZERO,” the video was watched more than 650,000 times.

Since sharing the video seven months ago, Duke has been inundated with questions on social media, including what it was like to be pregnant for almost 12 years straight.

“I really did not pay attention to the time frame my total pregnancies were,” Duke said.

“I was young and was just pregnant a lot. It did take a toll on my body where I would get sick all the time.”

Unfortunately, Duke also gets lots of rude comments, such as “How many baby daddies for your nine kids?” and “When will you have baby number 10?”

“People are very nosy. It’s human nature,” Duke said. “I honestly do not even respond to the negativity.”

Her most-recent video to take over TikTok was shared on December 4 and has received 14 million views so far. In the footage, Duke introduces each child one by one, alongside her age when they were born.

TikTokers were shocked by Duke’s age and the amount of time she spent pregnant, with user Lola writing: “I’m in disbelief.”

“Y does she look younger than her first 3 children,” commented M1998.

“I can’t imagine being pregnant 9 times,” wrote bundleofjo.

“Ma’am what’s the secret,” asked Coco Cavallii, to which Duke replied, “I have zero idea.”

TikToker ANA commented: “God bless your kids and you for being a strong woman.”

Since having Tahj in 2012, Duke has had a tubal ligation and doesn’t intend to have any more children.

She said there are many pros to having a large family. She knows her kids will always have someone to talk to and help them if they need it. However, a big family does mean fights over the bathroom and never-ending grocery runs.

Due to her young age, Duke gets mistaken for her older kid’s siblings “every day.” She turns 40 in 2022, and is excited to see what the next decade holds for her.

“I should have a few grandchildren in my 40s, most of the kids will graduate college and my youngest will go off to college, so a lot of things are happening this decade,” Duke said.

“Plus, we plan to travel the world once all the kids are off doing their own thing.”

Duke isn’t the only super mom to take over the internet. A mom-of-10 from Pittsburgh went viral in 2021 after sharing her impressive morning routine—which includes getting up at 5 a.m. to make lunches—while a mom-of-eight who spent $500 and three days preparing for Thanksgiving received 3.1 million views on TikTok over the holidays.