McCaughey Septuplets
The McCaughey septuplets, born on November 19, 1997 (age 19), are a set of septuplets (seven offspring) born to Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. They were the world's first set of surviving septuplets.
Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey (pronounced "McCoy") had one daughter, Mikayla Marie, born on January 3, 1996 . While under treatment with ovulation-stimulating Metrodin for infertility, Bobbi became pregnant with seven babies. The McCaugheys, residents of the town of Carlisle, declined selective reduction to reduce the number of infants, saying that they would "put it in God's hands". The obstetricians primarily responsible for the medical care of the babies were Karen Drake and Paula Mahone.
The septuplets, four boys and three girls, were born nine weeks prematurely in Des Moines on November 19, 1997. They were born by Caesarean section, all within six minutes. They were the world's first set of surviving septuplets.
Two of the septuplets, Alexis and Nathan, have cerebral palsy. Both used walkers to get around, and in November 2005 Nathan had spinal surgery in order to improve his walking abilities.
The birth attracted significant media attention, both positive and negative, including a feature in Time magazine in December 1997. "In the beginning, for every ten letters we would get that were happy for us, we'd get one letter accusing us of exploiting the kids and being selfish to waste the world's resources on a family this big," said Bobbi in a 2007 interview. "Our neighbors never gawked. Here in Carlisle they gave us privacy. But we had complete strangers come around to the back door, knock, and ask if they could hold a baby."
The McCaugheys were the recipients of many donations, including a 5500 ft² (511 m²) house, a van and diapers for the first two years, as well as nanny services, clothes, and even the State of Iowa offering full college scholarships to any state university in Iowa upon their maturity and graduation from high school, also by the Hannibal–LaGrange University in Missouri. President Bill Clinton personally telephoned the McCaugheys to wish them his congratulations. The surviving Dionne quintuplets- Yvonne Dionne, Annette Allard, and Cecile Langlois- wrote a letter warning the parents to keep the septuplets out of the public eye and not allow them to fall into the same pitfalls as their parents did, but wished them the best of luck in raising them and their personal congratulations.
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