McCaughey Septuplets - Des Moines, Iowa
Sextuplets
McCaughey ( McCoy ) Sextuplets
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The McCaughey septuplets (pronounced McCoy), were born to to Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey, residents of the town of Carlisle, Iowa.
In order of birth they are Kenneth Robert, Alexis May, Natalie Sue, Kelsey Ann, Nathan Roy, Brandon James, Joel Steven and are the world's first surviving set of septuplets. The septuplets have one older sister, Mikayla Marie born January 3, 1996.
They were born nine weeks premature in Des Moines, Iowa at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center, on November 19, 1997.
The septuplets were conceived with the help of fertility drugs. Kenny and Bobbi declined selective reduction to reduce the number of fetuses, saying that they would "put it in God's hands."
As the result of being born prematurely, two of the septuplets have medical problems: Alexis and Nathan have cerebral palsy although Nathan received spinal surgery in November, 2005 in order to help his walking abilities.
The birth attracted much media attention, both positive and negative.
The surviving Dionne quintuplets had written 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.
The McCaugheys also received some very generous donations, including a 5500 square foot house, a van and diapers for the first two years, free footwear from Kmart through the age of 10, as well as nanny services. The State of Iowa even offered full college scholarships to the babies upon graduation from high school to any state university in Iowa.
Even President Clinton personally telephoned Mr. & Mrs. McCaughey to wish them his congratulations.
At birth, the septuplets weighed: Kenny: 3 lb. 4oz. (1.47 kg), Alexis: 2 lb. 11oz. (1.22 kg), Natalie: 2 lb. 10oz. (1.19 kg), Kelsey: 2 lb. 5oz. (1.05 kg), Nathan: 3 lb. 3oz. (1.45 kg), Brandon: 2 lb. 14oz. (1.30 kg) and Joel: 2 lb. 15oz. (1.33 kg)
Bobbie McCaughey homeschooled Mikayla for several years but all are now attending local public schools.
They all studied violin during the academic year 2004-2005; several of the septuplets and Mikayla have continued for a second year.
