Quintuplets Births
Dionne Quintuplets - Corbeil, Ontario
Quintuplets From Corbeil, Ontario, Canada
 | ||||
In the early morning of May 28, 1934 the names Annette, Cecile, Yvonne, Marie and Emilie became known to Canada and the world as the Dionne Quintuplets.
This quickly became a travel destination even more popular than Niagara Falls for the inquisitive tourists of the day. It is estimated that between 1934 and 1943 three million people visited Quintland, and earned the government and nearby businesses a half-billion dollars off the tourists.
Born in the small Northern Ontario town of Corbeil, nine miles from North Bay, the identical quintuplets were taken from their poor French speaking parents, Elzire and Oliva Dionne. They were and made wards of the province apparently to protect the infants fragile health and from their own father who was determined to gain financially at the childrens expense by making them a carnival side show.
Born almost two months premature, with a combined total weight of less than 14 pounds, each child could be held in the palm of ones hand.
As was the case of many a youngster in those days in Northern Ontario, they were kept warm by the side of a wood stove.
Mothers from miles around brought breast milk for the children and against staggering odds they all survived their first weeks.
After being taken from their parents at around nine months, they lived their next nine years at the Allan Roy Dafoe Hospital, which was built across the road from the families farm house and became known as Quintland.
Click on photo to enlarge
The Dionne quintuplets in 1930's era NHL jerseys.
The odds of giving birth to identical quintuplets without the aid of reproductive technology are one in 57 million.
Click on photo to enlarge
Click on photo to enlarge
Click on photo to enlarge
Click on photo to enlarge
Click on photo to enlarge
