List of multiple births

This is a list of multiple births, consisting of notable higher order (4+) multiple births and pregnancies. Twins and triplets are sufficiently common to have their own separate articles. With the use of reproductive technology such as fertility drugs and in vitro fertilization (IVF) such births have become increasingly common. This list contains only multiple births which have some claim to notability, such as being the first recorded in a country, the first to survive to adulthood in a country, heaviest, lightest or longest lived (globally).

Cases by number

Twins (2)

Triplets (3)

Quadruplets (4)

• The Smith quadruplets, born 1750 in Kinsale, Ireland, to Jane Smith, a fisherman's wife.^[1]
• Dominica, 1790: According to The Times, a Dr. Giuseppe of Dominica reported that an unnamed enslaved woman living on the estate belonging to Thomas Jemmitt gave birth to four girls, three of them almost eighteen hours after the first was born. All survived birth.^[2]
• The Gehri quadruplets (born September 26, 1880, in Switzerland) were the first recorded to have survived to adulthood. There were two boys (Oskar and Arthur) and two girls (Bertha and Rosa).^[3]
• The Keys quadruplets (born June 4, 1915, in Hollis, Oklahoma) were the first same-sex quadruplets known to survive to adulthood. They attended Baylor University on scholarships and graduated in 1937. Roberta Keys Torn, the last surviving sister, died at 96 years in August 2011.^[4]
• The Johnson quadruplets (born in 1935 in Dunedin, New Zealand) were the first surviving set of quadruplets in Australasia.^[5]
• The Miles quadruplets (born on November 28, 1935 in St Neots, United Kingdom) are the oldest living quadruplets in the world.^[6]
• The Badgett quadruplets (born February 1, 1939, in Galveston, Texas) were the second surviving set of quadruplets in the United States. The four girls, Geraldine, Joan, Jeanette, and Joyce, were minor celebrities in the 1940s and 1950s.^[7]
• The Fultz quadruplets (born May 23, 1946, in Rockingham County, North Carolina) were the first identical African-American quadruplets on record.^[8]
• The Sara quadruplets (born August 17, 1950, in Bellingen, New South Wales) were the first surviving quadruplets in Australia. There were two boys, Mark and Philip, and two girls, Alison and Judith.^[9]
• The Alexander quadruplets (born September 2, 1967, in Auckland, New Zealand) were the first set of identical quadruplets born in New Zealand.^[10]
• The Steeves quadruplets (Carrie Dawn, Jennie Lee, Mary Beth, and Patty Ann, born December 17, 1982, in Calgary, Alberta) were the first identical set of quadruplets to be born in Canada.^[11][12]
• The Durst quadruplets (Calli, Kendra, Megan, and Sarah) are identical quadruplets born February 10, 1993, in Robbinsdale, Minnesota.^[13] They appeared in the reality television series Four of a Kind.
• The Brino quadruplets (born September 21, 1998, in Woodland Hills, California) played the twins Sam and David Camden on the television series 7th Heaven. When they all started to look different, the only girl, Myrinda, stopped appearing on the show. Only Nikolas and Lorenzo starred on the show until the series ended in 2007.^[14]
• The Mathias quadruplets (born February 16, 2000, in Lexington, South Carolina) are Grace, Emily, Mary Claire, and Anna. A home-movie of the girls laughing in unison was featured on America's Funniest Home Videos and won them over $250,000 as a result.^[15][16] The girls were featured in three 1-hour episodes of a documentary called "Super Quads" in the Discovery Health Channel.
• The Aberdeen / Edwards quadruplets (born November 7, 2006, in San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago) are four girls, born to Lystra Aberdeen (aged 27 and mother to a 10-year-old girl, an 8-year-old boy, and a 4-year-old boy) and her common-law husband Anderson Edwards (aged 33). This was the first confirmed case in Trinidad.^[17]
• The Yarns quadruplets featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno featuring John Travolta (Season 11 Episode 97) on their birthday February 20, 2003. They are Rhys, Trey, Chase, Tiana.^{[18][19][20][21]}
• Adhiti, Aakrithi, Akshathy and Aapthi are the Quadruplets born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. They appeared in a Tamil film Enna Satham Indha Neram (2014).^[22]

Quintuplets (5)

• The Lyon quintuplets (born April 29, 1896) were the first American quintuplets that were all born alive. The last survivor died on May 14, 1896.^[23]

The Dionne sisters January 21, 1935 with then-Premier of Ontario Mitchell Hepburn.

• The Dionne quintuplets (born May 28, 1934 near Corbeil, Ontario, Canada) were the first quintuplets known to survive infancy. The five girls (Yvonne, Annette, Cecile, Emilie and Marie) were also the only set of identical quintuplets known to live into adulthood.^[24]
• The Fischer quintuplets (born September 14, 1963 in Aberdeen, South Dakota) were the first known surviving set of American quintuplets. They consisted of 1 boy and 4 girls.^[25] 3 of the 4 girls are identical: Magdalene, Margaret, and Catherine.^[26]
• The Lawson quintuplets (born July 27, 1965 in Auckland, New Zealand) were the first set of surviving quintuplets conceived through the use of fertility medication and are the only known New Zealand quintuplets:^[27] They are one boy (Samuel) and four girls (Deborah, Lisa, Shirlene and Selina).^[28]
• The Braham Quintuplets (born 31 December 1967) were the first quintuplets to be born in Australia. They were conceived naturally and born to Pat and Roger Braham of Tenterfield, New South Wales. In birth order they were Annabel Dorothy, Richard Gibson, Faith Elizabeth, Caroline, and Geoffrey Raymond. Geoffrey died at 4 days old; the others are still living.
• The Hanson quintuplets (born November 13, 1969 in London) were the first set to survive in the United Kingdom, as well as the second surviving set of all girl quintuplets after the Dionne quintuplets.^[29]
• The Kienast quintuplets (born February 24, 1970 in Liberty Corners, New Jersey) were the first surviving set of American quintuplets conceived through fertility medication.^[30][31]
• The Rychert quintuplets (born May 15, 1971 in Gdańsk) were the first surviving set born in Poland.^[32]
• The Brunner quintuplets (born June 9, 1978 in Nancy) were the first surviving set born in France. Marc, Luc, Gilles, Maud, and Anne were nicknamed "quintuplés Paris Match," and clothed by designer Pierre Cardin, in 17 articles written from 1978 to 1984.^[33] For each article, they were clothed by the couturier Pierre Cardin.
• The Granata quintuplets (born June 1, 1981 in Toledo, Ohio) were three boys and two girls conceived through the use of fertility medication and born at 28 weeks to Janice and George Granata. They were named (in birth order) Britton, Nathan, Amanda, Heather, and Eric. Britton died of lung failure on June 3, 1981.^[34] In 1983, the surviving 4 appeared with Oprah Winfrey on her show, People are Talking, along with their mother and their older sister Jenny.^[35] At 15, the 4 appeared on The Jenny Jones Show.
• The Gaither quintuplets (born August 3, 1983 in Indianapolis, Indiana) were the first surviving African-American quintuplets and were one of only three naturally-conceived American sets in 1983.^[36][37][38]
• The Al-Ghamdi quintuplets (born February 2, 1988 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) were the first set to be born in Saudi Arabia. The 5 boys were born to Salha and Saeed Al-Ghamdi.^[39]
• The Nur Adlan quintuplets were born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 20, 1996. The three girls and two boys were the first set of Malaysian quintuplets to survive infancy.^[40]
• The Cassidy quintuplets were born in Dublin, Ireland on August 16, 2001 to Veronica and Kevin Cassidy of Wexford. The three boys (Conor James, Cian Richard, and Rory Kevin) and two girls (Amy Dorothy and Dearbhail Mary) were the first quintuplets to have been born in Ireland.^[41][42][43]
• The Gonzalez-Moreno quintuplets were born in Phoenix, Arizona on April 26, 2005 to Luisa Gonzalez and Enrique Moreno via surrogate mother, Teresa Anderson. The five boys are the first set of quintuplets born via surrogate. The boys, in order of birth, are; Enrique, Jorge, Gabriel, Javier, Victor and weighed between 3 lb 7oz and 3 lb 15oz.^[44][45]
• The Artamkin quintuplets were born in Oxford, England on November 10, 2007 to Dimitri and Varvara Artamkin via Cesarean section.^{[46][47][48][49]} They were the first set of quintuplets born to Russian parents.
• The Wilkinson quintuplets (born July 31, 2007 in Phoenix, Arizona) were born to Jayson and Rachelle Wilkinson of Cedar Park, Texas. The three girls (Kassidy, Kaydence, and Kyndall) and two boys (Rustin and Ryder) hold the record for the highest combined birthweight of a set of quintuplets at 21 lb (9.52 kg).^[50]
• The Jones quintuplets (born January 16, 2009 in Austin, Texas) were four girls and one boy born to Ethan and Casey Jones. In order of birth, they are Brooklyn Faith, Britton Grace, Jack William, Lila Addison, and Ryan Elizabeth. They have an older sister Eliot McKenna who was 4 at the time of their birth. All 6 children were conceived through fertility treatments of intrauterine insemination (IUI) and a sperm donor when the couple learned Ethan had an extremely low sperm count. The same donor was used for Eliot and the quintuplets. The Jones quintuplets and their family had a show on TLC called Quints by Surprise that premiered on August 30, 2010.
• The Kroscen quintuplets were born in Prague, Czech Republic on June 2, 2013 to Alexandra Kinova and Antonin Kroscen of Milovice. The four boys (Michael, Deniel, Martin, and Alex) and one girl (Tereza) were the first recorded quintuplets to have been born in the Czech Republic.^[51][52][53]
• The Busby quintuplets were born on April 8, 2015 in Houston, Texas to Adam and Danielle Busby. The five girls (Ava Lane, Olivia Marie, Hazel Grace, Parker Kate, and Riley Paige) are the first set of all female quintuplets born in the United States. Ava and Olivia are twins. They have an older daughter, Blayke.^[54][55]

Sextuplets (6)

The Gosselin sextuplets with family on the cover of the May 2008 KoreAm

• The Thorns sextuplets (born October 2, 1968 in Birmingham, England) were born to Sheila and Barry Thorns. They were the first sextuplets known to have been born alive in the United Kingdom, but one baby died shortly after birth, and another two died within the next 2 weeks.^{[56][57][58][59]}
• The Letts sextuplets (born December 15, 1969 in London, England) were born to Rosemary and John Letts two months prematurely at University College Hospital. One boy and four girls survived, (Cara Dawn, Sharon Marie, Joanne Nadine, Gary John, and Tanya Odile) one female was stillborn. This was the second case of surviving quintuplets in the United Kingdom. The family immigrated to Canada in 1974.^{[60][61][62][63]}
• The Rosenkowitz sextuplets (born January 11, 1974 in Cape Town, South Africa) were the first sextuplets known to survive their infancy.^[64] They were conceived using fertility drugs.^[65]
• The Nijssen sextuplets (born September 21, 1977 in the Netherlands) were born to Corry and Sien Nijssen two months prematurely. There were four girls (Patricia, Priscilla, Mirella, and Ramona) and two boys (Ivo and Dennis). Dennis died on November 9, 1977. They are the only set in the Netherlands.^[66]
• The Giannini sextuplets (born on January 11, 1980 in Italy) were the second sextuplets known to survive their infancy. They were born on the same date as the Rosenkowitz sextuplets, six years later.^[67]
• The Vanhove Gadeyne sextuplets (born on August 17, 1983 in Blankenberge, Belgium) were the first set of sextuplets to have been born in Belgium. The five boys (Bruno, Jelle, Tom, Lode, Arne) and one girl (Veerle) weighed between 2 lbs 9oz and 3 lbs 3oz at birth.^[68]
• The Walton sextuplets (born on November 18, 1983 in Liverpool) were the first sextuplets born in the United Kingdom known to survive their infancy, and the world's first all-female sextuplets.^[69] They were delivered by Cesarian section at 31 and a half weeks.^[70]
• The Dilley sextuplets (born on May 25, 1993 in Indianapolis) were the first surviving set of sextuplets in the United States. They are two girls (Brenna Rose and Claire Diane) and four boys (Julian Emerson, Quinn Everett, Ian Michael, and Adrian Reed).^[71]
• The Boniello sextuplets (born March 24, 1997 in Stony Brook, New York) set a record for the longest gestation of a sextuplet pregnancy in the United States at 29 weeks and one day. They have a younger sister Nadia.^[72] This record was broken almost two months later by the Thompson sextuplets.
• The Thompson sextuplets (born May 8, 1997 in Washington, D.C.) were born to Jacqueline and Linden Thompson. Mrs. Thompson set a record for the longest sextuplet pregnancy in the United States at 29 weeks and six days. One girl was stillborn; the five survivors are four girls (Octavia Daniela, Stella Kimberly, Ann Marie Amanda, and Emily Elizabeth) and one boy (Richard Linden). They are the first African-American sextuplets. They each weighed between 2 lbs 2oz and 2 lbs 6oz.^[73]
• The Harris sextuplets (born July 7, 2002 in Alabama) are two girls (Kiera Christine and Kalynne Antoinett) and four boys (Kaleb Reddrick, Kobe Byshari, Kieran Anthony, and Kyle Jacob). They are Alabama's first set of sextuplets and were the first recorded set of surviving African-American sextuplets.^[74] Kaleb has nerve damage; while Kiera and Kyle are autistic.^[75] The Harris family received a new home in a 2005 episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The Harris' original three-bedroom, three-bath house was razed and a two story, 5,000-square-foot (460 m²) home was built. The show added features like a commercial stove with six eyes; three refrigerators in the kitchen; a train track upstairs that travels through the sextuplets' rooms, a part of the hallway and through a secret passage by a set of stairs; an outdoor dining area; a tree house and a water park in the back yard.^[76][77]
• The Gosselin sextuplets (born May 10, 2004 in Hershey, Pennsylvania) were born just shy of 30 weeks gestation to parents Jon and Kate Gosselin. The set has three girls (Alexis Faith, Hannah Joy, and Leah Hope) and three boys (Aaden Jonathan, Collin Thomas, Joel Kevin). The parents also have twin girls, Madelyn Kate and Cara Nicole, who were three years old at the time of the sextuplets' birth.^[78][79] The family was the subject of a reality television show, originally titled Jon & Kate Plus 8, that aired on TLC in the United States and Canada. The show was initially canceled after Jon and Kate's divorce, but was revived as Kate Plus 8 after viewer complaints. The series ended in 2011, with the last episode airing on September 12 of that year, then resumed with a new season in January 2015.
• The Hayes sextuplets (born September 14, 2004 in Long Branch, New Jersey) are the first surviving sextuplets to be born in New Jersey. The six children, three boys (Ryan Peter, Connor James, Eric John) and three girls (Tara Rose, Rachel Ann, Rebecca Mary), weighed a total of 24 lbs. and 14 oz., setting a world record for the heaviest set of sextuplets. The Hayes also have two sets of twins, Kevin and Kyle (eight years old at the time of the sextuplets' birth) and Kieran and Meghan (five years old). They are the only family in the United States to have two sets of twins and a set of sextuplets.^[80] The family were the subject of a reality television show, Table for 12, on TLC in the U.S.^[81]
• Canada's first sextuplets (born January 6–7, 2007 in Vancouver) were born at 25 weeks gestation. The parents, who wanted to remain anonymous, are Jehovah's Witnesses and refused the critical blood transfusions necessary to save the babies; two of them died shortly after birth and the rest were taken in custody by the Ministry of Children. The babies were later returned to the parents.^[82][83]
• The Carpio sextuplets (born October 6, 2008 in the New York City borough of Queens) are the first Hispanic sextuplets to be born in America. It is not known if their parents, Victor and Digna Carpio, conceived using fertility treatments. The babies (Justin, Jadon, Jezreel, Danelia, Genesis, and Joel) were delivered by Caesarean section at 25 weeks.^[84]
• The Conway sextuplets (born on May 22, 2009) in Dunmore in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland were the first recorded sextuplets in Ireland. The four girls and two boys weighed between 1 lb., 7 oz. and 2 lb., 2 oz. were fourteen weeks premature and were named Ursula, Shannon, Karla, Kerrie (died July 20, 2009), Austin and Eoghan.^[85]
• On March 4, 2013 the first sextuplets in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean were born at the Maternity Hospital of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago to an anonymous Trinidadian couple. Two of them died a few weeks later.^{[86][87][88][89]}

Septuplets (7)

• The Frustaci septuplets (born May 21, 1985 in Orange, California) were the first septuplets to be born in the United States. Born at 28 weeks, only two boys and one girl survived; one daughter was stillborn and three died within 19 days of birth.^[90]
• The McCaughey septuplets (born November 19, 1997 in Des Moines, Iowa) were the world's first surviving set of septuplets. The four boys (Kenneth Jr., Brandon, Nathan, and Joel) and three girls (Alexis, Natalie, and Kelsey) were born at 31 weeks, weighing between 2 lbs. 5 oz. and 3 lbs 4 oz.^[91][92][93] In 2016, they became the first set of septuplets to reach maturity.
• The Humair septuplets (born January 14, 1998 in Abha, Saudi Arabia) were the world's second surviving set of septuplets. They were born at 32 weeks to 40-year-old Hasna Mohammed Humair and her husband, Abdullah Mohammed Ali. They had been told to expect four babies.^[94][95][96]
• The Qahtani septuplets (born July 12, 2001 in Washington, D.C.) were delivered by Dr. Mutahar Fauzia and are the fourth set of septuplets to live past infancy.^[97][98][99] In December 2001, it was reported that one of the septuplets had died of liver failure and three were still hospitalized.^[100]
• A set of septuplets were born on April 18, 2007 in a suburb of Algiers, Algeria to Farhat and Souhila Touile. One of the babies, a boy, was stillborn; the remaining six are girls.^{[101][102][103]}
• The Khamis septuplets (born August 16, 2008 in Alexandria, Egypt) were born to 27-year-old Ghazala Khamis. They were the fifth set of septuplets to all survive. The newborns, four boys and three girls, had been placed in incubators in four different hospitals since they were premature. The babies' weights ranged from 1.45 to 2.8 kilograms (3.2 to 6.2 lb). The mother took fertility drugs in order to produce a son, since she already had three daughters.^[104][105]
• The McGhee septuplets (born June 9, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio) were born to Mia and Rozonno McGhee at 27 weeks. One girl was stillborn. The other two girls (Olivia and Madison) and the four boys (Rozonno Jr., Elijah, Isaac, and Josiah) weighed between 1.5 lb. to a fraction over 2 lbs.^[106][107]

Octuplets (8)

• The first confirmed birth of octuplets occurred on March 10, 1967 in Mexico City, Mexico to Maria Teresa López de Sepulveda. All four boys and four girls died within 13 hours.^{[108][109][110]}
• A set of octuplets where born on August 16, 1979 to Pasqualina and Stefano Chianese in Naples, Italy. Six of the babies died and two survived. The couple had previously lost a set of sextuplets in 1976.^{[111][112][113][114][115]}
• A set of octuplets were born on December 20, 1985 to Sevil Capan of İzmir, Turkey. Born prematurely at 28 weeks, six of the octuplets died within 12 hours of birth, and the remaining two died within three days.^[96][116]
• A set of octuplets were born between September 30 and October 2, 1996 in a hospital in South London, United Kingdom to Mandy Allwood of Solihull. Allwood was only 19 weeks pregnant when she went into pre-term labor with her six boys (Adam, Cassius, Donald, Kypros, Martyn, and Nelson) and two girls (Layne and Kitali). None of her octuplets survived.^[117] She had refused selective reduction and her case provoked a media storm in the UK.
• A set of octuplets were born on December 5, 1996 in Huelva, Spain to Rosario Clavijo. Two of them were stillborn and six survived.^[96][118]
• The Chukwu octuplets were born in December 1998 in Houston, Texas, United States. The smallest of the octuplets, Odera, died a week after birth.^[119]
• A set of octuplets were born between September 13 and September 16, 2000 in Milan, Italy to Mariella Mazzara and Giovanni Pierrera of Trapani. One died immediately after birth, two within a few days of birth, and the oldest, Margherita, died a month later on October 10.^[120][121]
• On January 26, 2009, the Suleman octuplets were born in Bellflower, California, United States.^[122][123] One week after birth, the Suleman octuplets became the longest-living octuplets in known history.^[124] The children's names are Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah, Makai, Josiah, Jeremiah and Jonah. They were conceived through IVF. They have six older siblings, including a set of fraternal twins. They are the first octuplets known to survive their infancy.^[125]

Nonuplets (9)

• A set of nonuplets were born on June 13, 1971 in Sydney, Australia to Geraldine Brodrick. Five boys and four girls; two of the boys were stillborn^[126] and the last of the babies to survive died six days after birth.^[127][128]
• A set of nonuplets were born on March 26, 1999 in Malaysia to Zurina Mat Saad. She had five boys and four girls (Adam, Nuh, Idris, Soleh, Hud, Aishah, Khadijah, Fatimah, and Umi Kalsom) but none of them survived more than 6 hours.^[129]

See also

• List of people with the most children

References

External links

• Facts About Multiples: An Encyclopedia of Multiple Births.
• Weplee.com: multiples and their parents community
• Incredible Births, list of multiple births
• MOST (Mothers of Supertwins): A support organization helping families with triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, sextuplets and more
• Twins and Triplets: Articles and tips for parents of multiple birth children