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Seven Survivors of a Premature Birth

© Eric Jordan Jensen

Here's a question for all of you trivia buffs: "Who are Kenny, Brandon, Natalie, Nathan, Kelsey, Joel and Alexis?" These seven children, collectively known as the McCaughey septuplets, are perhaps the most famous premature babies in the country, if not the world. As parents of a child born early, we have been very interested in the babies' progress. Fortunately for the McCaughey family, the children seem to be healthy and developing normally.

Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey, devout Baptists from a small Iowa town, have been in the news since November 19, 1997, the day the seven babies were born. Millions of Americans followed the story. Carter's, Similac, Kmart, and other companies donated clothes, formula and shoes to the family, while Hannibal-Lagrange College (Missouri) offered scholarships for the children. Iowa's building contractors and suppliers gave the McCaugheys a larger house, and celebrities donated money to help the children. Citizens from all over the country sent clothes, money, letters and toys. In addition to financial help, hundreds of volunteers helped feed, clothe, diaper and cuddle the babies.

The children, born about 10 weeks early, progressed rapidly; the first baby left the hospital after only six weeks. Natalie and Alexis, the two who experienced the most medical problems, came home after 102 days in the hospital. Remarkably, the septuplets have experienced few major problems since their births. In an article written for Ladies Home Journal in December of 1999, Kathryn Casey reported that Natalie and Alexis both received feedings through tubes and suffer from reflux. In addition, Alexis suffers from hypotonic quadriplegia, while Nathan deals with spastic diplegia.

Despite the miracle of the septuplets' birth and current good health, fertility experts consider their birth as a failure. According to an article written for The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), fertility drugs are meant to help produce one healthy child. The presence of multiple fetuses greatly increases the chance that they will be born prematurely, thus leading to extensive health problems. The article raises a question that has been asked by doctors and fertility experts alike: Should the amount of fetuses allowed to occupy the womb be regulated through partial abortion or other medical procedures? Or should it be placed in God's hands, as the McCaugheys say?

Although the controversy rages around the issue, Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey seem pleased with their brood, however wild their days may be.

Resources:

Casey, Kathryn. "Celebrating With the Septuplets." Ladies Home Journal, December 1999, pp. 136-141, 188-189.

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