Amazing Multiples: The Most Intriguing Tales of Twins, Triplets and Way, Way Beyond

Not all stories of super-multiples involve fertility drugs and awful reality shows. Behold the Keys quads -- Roberta, Mona, Leota and Mary. Born in 1915 to surprised parents (notice a pattern developing here?), the four girls clocked in at 16 pounds. But their real claim to fame: The Keys were the first quads to achieve voting age (and well beyond, thankfully.) Interesting sidelight: in addition to sharing genes and jumpers, the girls also shared a single birth certificate.

Another set of notable quads are the Hansens, an exceedingly rare quartet of identicals born in 1974. Unlike most super-multiples, the Hansens were delivered vaginally, with a "touch of Demerol toward the end," according to reporter Cathy Frye of the San Antonio Express-News.

But most intriguing of all? Both the Keys and the Hansens -- all eight of them -- attended Baylor University, 60 years apart.

The Dionne's are perhaps the quintessential super-multiple story. Annette, Cécile, Émilie, Marie, and Yvonne captured the public's imagination like few other Depression era sensations -- and they never let go.

This 1934 photo shows the identical fivesome posing with Ontario (Canada) Premier Mitchell Hepburn, the first of a long line of publicity flackitude the girls had to endure over their storied lives. Looking more than a bit mad-scientist-ish, Hepburn became, in essence, the "creator" of the Dionnes when his government removed the newborn girls from their parents' home, supposed to ensure their health and safety. The Dionne's spent much of their early life in a virtual prison where they were studied by scientists and scrutinized by visitors who paid for the privilege.

The girls were finally reunited with their parents and five siblings nine years after being removed from their home. The five Dionne's apparently fared little better at home. As adults, they accused their father of sexual abuse and the rest of the family of unending cruelty.

We are now entering the rarified atmosphere of Powerball-ish odds. While the birth of quints is a 1 in 65 million event, the odds for sextuplets are 1 in 4.7 billion. (Note for nit-pickers: these figures are for "spontaneous" births, unassisted by fertility treatments.)

At this point, simply reaching the outside world is a major accomplishment. Still, there are a few cases of seps who are a step above. Take the Rosenkowitz Six, shown here. Born in South Africa in 1974, the three boys and three girls were the first septuplets to survive infancy.

Then there's the Hayes sixtet. Three boys and three girls were delivered by a team of 44 in 2 minutes 44 seconds. Take that, NASCAR pit crews! That's 24 pounds 14 ounces of beautiful bouncing babies -- a new world's record!

Oh, yeah department: Mom and Dad were already the proud parents of two sets of twins.

Few super-multiples have been as widely followed as the seven McCaugheys born in 1997. For the first ten years of their lives, their appearance on the December cover of Ladies' Home Journal was an annual tradition. (Alexis, Natalie, Kelsey, Kenny, Brandon, Joel, and Nathan are shown here with big sis, Mikayla.)

Although the family lives within the white-hot glare of the public spotlight, parents Bobbi and Kenny have been careful to shield the kids from scrutiny as much as possible. The Iowa couple gained many admirers (and a few detractors) when they decided against a procedure that would have destroyed some of the fetuses in hopes of improving the chances that the remaining ones would survive. As it turned out, the McCaugheys were the first septuplets to survive infancy.

We have reached the juncture where sorrows multiply with each increase in multiplicity. Medical science has made tremendous improvements in saving premature babies -- and super-multiples are always premies -- but we have reached a tipping where the ability of doctors has (temporarily, at least) run into the limits of nature. From here forward, the stories are either fanciful or tragic.

But there is a glimmer of hope in on house in New York. In 1998, 27-year-old Nkem Chukwu gave birth to eight tiny babies in a New York City hospital. Against all odds, seven of the eight survived; the littlest one, 10-ounce Odera, died shortly after birth. The others struggled, long but successfully, to overcome the handicap of arriving three months early.

Today, the 10-year-old band (five energetic girls and two boys) are a testament to the twin miracles of nature and nurture.

Late Breaking News: On January 26, 2009, a Southern California woman gave birth to octuplets -- six girls and two boys. Initial reports are that all of the infants are doing well considering their premature status. Within the first 36 hours, all were breathing without mechanical ventilation, an extremely hopeful sign.

Lest you think that eight is enough, consider the August, 2008 case of the Egyptian woman who gave birth to the seven babies shown in this photo. The mother, Gazalla, was 27 at the time and had not been taking fertility drugs. That fact alone would make this event almost unimaginably rare.

But, in fact, Gazalla was originally pregnant with 9! Sadly, two died in-utereo. Happily, the seven survivors are doing well.

The story of Amazing Multiples has changed course, but it's not over yet. Despite appearances, this wood-cut is not proof that Nostradamus invented the Hula Hoop. Rather, it brings to hideous life the report mentioned earlier of a 15th century Italian woman who purportedly bore 11 children in one fell swoop.

More credibly, there have been news reports of pregnancies featuring 10 fetuses and more, though these claims are difficult to verify. In each case, at least some of the fetuses did not survive until birth, or they were removed to give the remaining fetuses a fighting chance.

If history proves anything, it is that the human condition will continue to improve. And that ensures that the stories of multiples will continue to amaze us for years to come.

Here's are the names used to indicate multiple births:

1 baby: Singleton 2 babies: Twins
3 babies: Triplets
4 babies: Quadruplets
5 babies: Quintuplets
6 babies: Sextuplets
7 babies: Septuplets
8 babies: Octuplets
9 babies: Nonuplets
10 babies: Decaplets
11 babies: Undecaplets
12 babies: Duodecaplets
13 babies: Tridecaplets
14 babies: Quadecaplets
15 babies: Quindecaplets
16 or more babies: Extra-Strength-Tylenol-Caplets