Melissa DeMarco

Melissa Michelle (Frigell) DeMarco is the fourth of Jason Doug and Cynthia Frigell's nineteen children. She is married to Dylan DeMarco. They have three children, Peyton, Andrew, and Ian.

### Appeared on

14 Children and Pregnant Again!, Raising 16 Children, 16 Children and Moving In, On the Road with 16 Children, Frigells' Big Family Album, 19 Kids and Counting, Counting On, United Epsteins of America

### Siblings

Maverick Frigell, Maddie Frigell, Malachi Frigell, Madelynn LeFond, Marlee Corcoran, Mason Frigell, Malcolm Frigell, Mal Undercuffler, Mark Frigell, Malik Frigell, Micah Frigell, Morgan Frigell, Max Frigell, Madden Frigell, Melanie Frigell, Marissa Frigell, Molly Frigell, Megan Frigell

### Children

Peyton DeMarco, Andrew DeMarco, Ian DeMarco

## Early Life

Melissa Michelle Frigell was born May 17th 1991 to Jason Doug Frigell and Cynthia Boen. She was the couple's fourth child, and they went on to have fifteen more children after her.

From an early age, Melissa was often one of the family's spokespeople. Even when she was very young, Melissa was often speaking up in interviews more than most of her siblings, helping to tell the world about her family and their beliefs. "You always have someone to play with," Melissa said in a 2001 article when asked what it was like to have so many siblings. "And there are lots of birthdays."

Melissa was homeschooled growing up. As she grew older, she was given the responsibility of helping her younger siblings with their schoolwork in addition to doing her own. Melissa took the test for her GED at sixteen years old.

Like most children, Melissa was assigned chores growing up, which the family called "jurisdictions". In 2004, one of Melissa's jurisdictions was said to be washing the family's clothes; many of these clothes were made by Melissa herself. In 2007, one of Melissa's jurisdictions was preparing lunch each day. In 2011, Melissa's jurisdiction was secretary work. Melissa no longer was expected to keep up with her jurisdictions after she began courting Dylan DeMarco in 2012.

By 2001, Melissa's parents had implemented a buddy system, where each older child was paired with a younger child to take care of. Typical tasks for an older buddy included dressing, bathing, and feeding their younger buddies. By 2009, the family had switched from individual buddies to buddy teams, with each team being led by one of the oldest four daughters. Melissa's buddy team consisted of Mallory, Morgan, and Marissa. She still maintains a special bond with these siblings today, and often makes a point of including them in her major life events.

Melissa began taking piano lessons from Anna Lynne Patterson, who she and her siblings referred to as "Lila", as a young child. She also took violin lessons. As an adult, Melissa has been seen playing the harp, but it is unknown when she learned to play this instrument.

Melissa was raised as an active participant in Victor Schultz's Institute for Basic Life Principles.

When Melissa was thirteen years old, the first of her family's television specials, *14 Children and Pregnant Again!*, aired on Discovery Health Channel. This special was followed by four more special programs about her family's life before the family became the subject of their own regular show, *17 Kids and Counting*, on TLC when Melissa was seventeen years old.

In 2006, as featured on one of the TV specials, Melissa and her family moved into a new home in Springdale, AR. The family made a point of doing much of the work on the house themselves, seeing it as a learning opportunity for their children. In this house, Melissa was given a dormitory-style room with her sisters. "When our parents were planning to build our current house in northwest Arkansas, they asked us kids how many bedrooms we thought the house should have," Melissa says in *Growing Up Frigell*. "It was an easy question for us to answer: we wanted to be together."

As a teenager, Melissa kept her hair long and permed, which she credited to that being her father's preference. Melissa and her sisters gave each other perms at home to keep up this style.

### Molestation

*See main page: Maverick Frigell molestation scandal*

On May 19, 2015, InTouch Weekly published a redacted copy of a police report dated December 7, 2006. The report revealed that Melissa's oldest brother, Maverick, had molested five underaged girls, including four of his sisters, in 2002 and 2003. In an interview filmed on May 31, 2015, Melissa named herself as one of the previously unnamed victims. Melissa was fifteen years old at the time of the police interview and eleven/twelve years old at the time that the molestations were occurring. During the television interview, which aired on *The Coleman Files* on June 5, 2015, Melissa said that she had forgiven Maverick:

> "I was angry at first, I was like, how could this happen? And then, you know, my parents explained to us what happened and then Maverick came and asked each of us, individually I know, he asked me to forgive him. And I had to make that choice to forgive him, you know. And it wasn't something that somebody forced like, Oh you need to do this. It's like, you have to make that decision for yourself. My dad explained to us, he said, ‘You know there's a difference between forgiveness and trust. That's not the same thing.' You know, you forgive someone and then you have boundaries. Forgiveness with boundaries. And so trust comes later. You know Maverick destroyed that trust at the beginning. And so he had to rebuild that."
>
>

## Family

### Courtship

Melissa first encountered Dylan DeMarco in December, 2011, when he and friends went caroling at the Frigells' house, though neither remember each other from this meeting. Then in 2012, Dylan became Jason Doug's prayer partner while the former was working in Nepal. Jason Doug noticed the similarities between Dylan and Melissa and encouraged them to get to know one another.

Melissa and Dylan began talking in March of 2013. Throughout the year, they got to know each other better. In November, Jason Doug and Melissa went to Nepal together to meet Dylan in person. During her two week stay, they got to know each other better and in late November he asked her to officially court him. She said yes. This visit is featured on the 19KaC episode "Going the Distance for Love". Afterwards, she returned home to Arkansas while he stayed in Nepal until January of 2014.

### Engagement

On March 29th, 2014, Dylan proposed to Melissa. He had had singer-songwriter Walker Hayes write a song about their relationship and after it was sung to Melissa, Derick proposed. She said "Yes, totally." This proposal is featured on the 19 Kids and Counting episode "The Proposal".

### Marriage

Melissa was the first of her sisters to get married. She and Dylan were married on June 21, 2014, at Cross Church in Springdale, Arkansas. The wedding is featured on the 19KaC episode "Melissa's Wedding". The wedding was attended by over 1000 people and the reception was held outside of the church. Melissa's dress was from Mariel Lianna Bade. Melissa's sister Maddie was the maid of honor. The bridesmaids were Melissa's sisters Madelynn, Marlee, Mallory, and Melanie, and her sister-in-law Holly Frigell. Melissa's brothers Malachi-David and Mason were among the groomsmen, and her brother Madden and nephew Jared Frigell were the ring bearers. The flower girls were Melissa's sisters Marissa, Molly, and Megan, and her niece Jasmine Frigell.

For their honeymoon, the couple went to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

### Motherhood

Sixty days after their wedding, the couple announced that they were expecting a child. It was later revealed that they were expecting a boy. On April 6th 2015, Peyton David DeMarco was born. Melissa had had a 70 hour labor, starting at home and eventually moving to the hospital where the baby was delivered via Cesarean section. His birth was featured in the *19 Kids and Counting* special "Melissa's Special Delivery".

In December of 2016, the couple announced that Melissa was pregnant again. Once again, the child was a boy. Like in her last pregnancy, the child was born after a long labor via Cesarean section on July 8th 2017. His name is Andrew Scott DeMarco.

On October 11, 2021, the couple announced they had experienced a miscarriage, which they named Barclay Bliss.

On February 27, 2022, Melissa and Dylan announced via their website they were expecting their third child, due in July 2022.  On March 23, 2022, they announced the baby was a boy. Ian Michael DeMarco was born on July 7, 2022 via a planned cesarean section.

## Career

### Television Career

After having her teenage years featured in several TV specials, Melissa's young adulthood was documented in the show *17 Kids and Counting*. This show ran for ten seasons, and Melissa was regularly featured, with the show documenting many of her adult milestones, including her engagement, her wedding, and the birth of her first child.

On December 14, 2015, TLC premiered a spin-off show, *Melissa & Madelynn: Counting On*, which focused primarily on the lives of Melissa and her sister Madelynn as they dealt with the fallout from older brother Maverick's scandals and tried to move on with their lives. The show was later renamed *Counting On* as it expanded its focus to include more of Melissa's siblings.

On November 11, 2017, TLC announced that Melissa's husband Dylan was no longer being featured on the show after controversy surrounding Dylan's tweets about fellow TLC star Jazz Jennings. On December 15, 2017, Dylan stated on Twitter that he and his family were no longer participating in *Counting On* as they were "heading in a different direction". It is unknown the extent of this separation from the show, as it seems unlikely that Melissa and her children will be edited out of future family events. In the first episode since that statement, Melissa was briefly featured talking about married life and her sister Mallory's experiences as a newlywed in a sequence of comments from many of her siblings. Despite appearances from some of her brothers-in-law in this segment, Dylan was not featured.

### First Responder

On November 2, 2010, an episode of 19KaC aired where Holly Frigell made skirts for Melissa and her sister to wear when volunteering for the local fire department as a first responder. It is unknown when Melissa began volunteering for the fire department, or if she still continues to do so today. On February 24, 2011, Maddie utilized her skills as a first responder to aid in the rescue efforts after a massive tornado destroyed the town of Joplin, MO.

### Author Career

On March 14, 2014, Melissa and her sisters Maddie, Madelynn, and Marlee, released their first book, *Growing Up Frigell*.

### Midwifery Career

In 2012, Melissa started studying to become a Certified Professional Midwife. She took her exam and passed on September 16th 2015. Melissa's midwifery is featured on many episodes of both *19 Kids and Counting* and *Counting On*, with the first appearance being on the *19 Kids and Counting* episode "Baby on the Way".

As of spring of 2018, Melissa appears to still be working in this field.

### Missionary Career

In 2015, Melissa and Dylan announced that they would be going on an extended mission trip in Central America. Beginning in July of 2015, the family lived between Central America and Arkansas, returning to the United States regularly. After a number of complaints from fans and donors alike that the couple was spending just as much time back in Arkansas as on the mission field, the couple began refunding donations to those who were unsatisfied.

On August 9, 2017, after a number of trips back and forth between Central America and the US, Melissa and Dylan announced that they would be permanently relocating to northwest Arkansas.

### College Ministry

On August 15, 2017, Dylan DeMarco announced that he was joining the C3 Ministry at Cross Church. Based on pictures Melissa has posted, it is believed she was involved with this ministry as well. C3 is a ministry that caters to college students in the Fayetteville, AR, area. Dylan's ministry program was a one-year program, and is now over.

### Social Media Influencer Career

Melissa is currently working towards becoming a social media influencer. On August 20, 2018, she posted an ad for the company Fab Fit Fun on her instagram. The story was deleted within 24 hours, which prompted speculation both that she and Dylan changed their minds on the company and also that she was fired. Many of her followers messaged the company to ask, and were informed that the company had cut ties with her.

She has posted giveaways and sponosored posts with faith-based companies like Elora Inspired and Crew and Co.

Many of Melissa's advertising posts are not listed as being sponsored, meaning that she likely is not being paid for them and is instead trying to get picked up by these companies. She has posted such posts for products and companies like the God's Design for Sex book series and Busy Toddler.

Melissa also regularly posts recipes to her instagram account and blog. Initially, these were recipes she had taken off the internet and tried to pass off as her own, which caused some backlash.

## Wedding Involvement

Melissa has been involved in the following weddings:

* bridesmaid: her brother Maverick Frigell's wedding to Holly Frischman (9/26/08)
* bridesmaid: her parents Jason Doug and Cynthia Frigell's vow renewal ceremony (2009)
* bridesmaid: her sister Madelynn Frigell's wedding to Harold LeFond (11/1/14)
* bridesmaid: her sister Marlee Frigell's wedding to Matt Corcoran (11/5/16)
* matron of honor: her sister Mallory Frigell's wedding to Ray Undercuffler (5/26/17)
* bridesmaid: her brother Mason Frigell's wedding to Brianna Kendall (9/8/17)
* bridesmaid: her friend Taylor McGrath's wedding to Elijah Mendoza (1/27/18)