Party of seven! World's first surviving septuplets turn 16 (but dad says they can forget the driving lessons until they get jobs)
- Kenny, Kelsey, Natalie, Brandon, Alexis, Nathan and Joel McCaughey, from Carlisle, Iowa, celebrate their 16th birthdays on Tuesday
- The septuplets were born after their mother, Bobbi, took fertility drugs
- The children achieved international headlines after they were born in 1997, with some criticizing their parents for refusing selective reduction
- Two of the children have cerebral palsy but all are healthy and are doing well at high school
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Doctors were unsure if they were going to make it past their first few days, but now the McCaughey septuplets are celebrating turning 16 - and planning driving lessons, college degrees and careers.
Kenny, Kelsey, Natalie, Brandon, Alexis, Nathan and Joel, the world's first septuplets to survive infancy, are marking the milestone on Tuesday, November 19 at their home in Carlisle, Iowa.
'It's sad how quickly it's gone,' their mother Bobbi told a local newspaper of the past 16 years.
Bobbi and her husband Kenny famously declined selective reduction after learning they were pregnant with seven children following fertility treatment, saying it was 'in God's hands'.
Celebration: The McCaughey septuplets (with
their parents, Kenny and Bobbi, center, and their big sister Milayla,
back left) are turning 16 on Tuesday. They are the world's first
surviving septuplets
Together: L-R, Nathan, Brandon, , Kelsey,
Natalie, Brandon, Kenny (light blue shirt), Joel and Alexis (laying
across laps). The septuplets generated world wide attention after they
were born November 19, 1997
'I will always remember the day we found out there were so many,' Bobbi told the Des Moines Register. 'It wasn't like "yoohoo!" There were so many doubts. To a lot of people this might sound trite, but God determined the outcome.'
Learning they had septuplets on the way sparked international headlines that would chart the children's every move.
After the babies were born nine weeks prematurely in Des Moines in 1997, joining their big sister, Mikayla Marie, news crews swarmed their modest one-floor home.
Amid the media frenzy, President Bill Clinton personally called the family to congratulate the family, Oprah welcomed them on her show and companies and strangers scrambled to help out the couple.
Early days: Bobbi McCaughey, pictured in 1998, used fertility treatment and had refused selective reduction
Babies' day out: She prepares to take out her nine-month-old babies with the help of friends in 1998
Helping hand: Mikayla, who was nearly 2 when her siblings were born, is pictured helping her mother
Staying healthy: Bobbi takes one of her sons to the doctors. Doctors were stunned they were all healthy
Doting: Big sister Mikayla helps out her parents by caring for one of her little sisters in 1998
During the early months, the septuplets drank 42 bottles a day and went through 52 diapers.
But over the years, the media coverage has waned and the coupons for free food have run out - encouraging the family to be frugal.
And from their early teenage years, the septuplets have been helping out the family by carrying out chores, such as their own laundry.
The family still lives in the same house that was donated after the births and continues to use the same van.
And while the four boys and three girls are looking forward to being 16 and driving, their father, who still works at a metal coating plant, warned that they can only have cars once they get jobs.
He is also up against other teenage challenges.
'The biggest challenge is making sure they keep up with certain things but not keep up with certain things, trendy things,' Kenny said of his teenagers. 'Three of them have cellphones and a couple have iPads.'
The family has saved to cover braces for several of the children and the medical needs of Alexis and Nathan, who were born with forms of cerebral palsy.
Modest: A police officer guards the McCaughey
home before the couple arrives back after the births
Small: Following the arrival of their septuplets, the family was given a new home through donations
Surprise: A large capacity van was also donated to the parents - they still use the same one today
Huge team: The Iowa Methodist Medical Center
personnel that participated in the McCaughey septuplet birth pose for a
group photo at the hospital two days later
In demand: Media trucks line the driveway outside Iowa Methodist Medical Center after the birth
Proud: Bobbi holds Kenny Jr as she sits beside Kenny and NBC host Ann Curry four days after the births
Both of the children had surgeries, including a spinal surgery to help Nathan walk, over the years but they are doing well, the Des Moines Register reported.
Alexis has also started taking part in beauty pageants for special needs children, taking the 2013 Teen Miss Dreams Made True award in Carroll.
'It feels really awesome,' Alexis told the Carrolls Paper at the time. 'I love just interacting with all the girls because they're really nice.'
Amid the life lessons and support from their parents, the teens are also battling classes at school.
Last year they began high school and have become fully immersed in activities; all are part of the band and perform at halftime at football games.
Happy and healthy: Natalie, left in hospital and right today, is a promising student and hopes to teach
Strong: Brandon, pictured left and right, enjoys wrestling and hopes to join the military after graduating
Tiny: Kelsey was the lightest baby at 2lb 5oz but she now enjoys soccer and wants a career in cosmetology
Hard workers: Kenny, left, also enjoys wrestling at school, woodworking, fishing and playing the drums
Fighter: Alexis, who suffers from cerebral palsy, is in cheerleading as a manager and hopes to teach
Impressive: Nathan, who also has cerebral palsy, hopes for a career in science after school
Last but not least: Joel was the 8th to be born, weighing just 2lbs 15oz. He now runs track and plays trombone
Five have run cross country, another wrestles, one plays soccer and another enters speech contests, while six were on the honor roll, the Register reported.
'It's fun to see the work pay off,' Bobbi said of her children.
As their lives have become busier, they have fallen from television screens and magazines - from Time magazine to Dateline NBC - that they regularly graced throughout their childhoods.
While Bobbi said she missed the media, the children are less bothered.
'It was kinda cool but in other ways I never liked it, all these cameras following you around everywhere,' Nathan said.
Talented: Alexis, with the family dog, has won local beauty pageants for women with special needs
Musical: All of the teenagers take part in the school band. Here, Kenny plays the drums at their home
Growing up: Front row left to right, Natalie, Nathan, Brandon, Kenny, Alexis and Joel. Kelsey is pictured top
The
family are also well aware that they luckily avoided the days of
reality TV and didn't get sucked into appearing with their children on a
show to help pay the bills.Putting their former celebrity behind them, the children are now considering their futures.
Brandon plans on going into military service after school, while Kenny hopes to work in construction, Nathan in science, Joel in computers, Kelsey in cosmetology and Alexis and Natalie in teaching.
But while they admit it's a transition phase, they know one thing for sure.
'You never have to worry,' Kenny Jr. said, 'that you are alone.'
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MAKING MULTIPLES: WHY DID THE McCAUGHEYS HAVE SO MANY?
At
the time of the conception of both Mikayla and the septuplets, Bobbi
McCaughey was undergoing treatments of an ovulation-stimulating drug
called Metrodin, which primes a woman's eggs for successful conception.
But while it often takes repeated doses to get pregnant, with the
septuplets, Bobbi conceived the children on the first treatment.
A Time article about the family noted that while doctors can carefully control the number of embryos they insert with in-vitro fertilization, fertility drugs are basically a roll of the dice.
She had been warned that in around 20 per cent of cases, women had seen multiple births - but they were shocked to learn she was carrying seven babies.
While septuplets had previously been delivered, none had lived beyond a few weeks. So the McCaugheys' doctors suggested they undergo 'selective reduction' - in which several of the fetuses are aborted so the others have a better chance at being healthy.
But the couple are religious Baptists and opposed to abortion so did not even consider the procedure.
A Time article about the family noted that while doctors can carefully control the number of embryos they insert with in-vitro fertilization, fertility drugs are basically a roll of the dice.
She had been warned that in around 20 per cent of cases, women had seen multiple births - but they were shocked to learn she was carrying seven babies.
While septuplets had previously been delivered, none had lived beyond a few weeks. So the McCaugheys' doctors suggested they undergo 'selective reduction' - in which several of the fetuses are aborted so the others have a better chance at being healthy.
But the couple are religious Baptists and opposed to abortion so did not even consider the procedure.
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