The world's first septuplets known to survive infancy, the McCaughey septuplets, have just turned 16 on Nov. 19, and are now eager to drive and plan their college careers.
Bobbi McCaughey shocked the world and became a media marvel when in 1997, she gave birth to seven babies, Bill Clinton even calling her personally to congratulate her and Oprah inviting the family to her show.
Bobbi learned that she was carrying seven while taking an ovulation-stimulating drug called Metrodin, according to Time magazine, which she was using at the time to treat her infertility. On the first try, Bobbi became pregnant, and though in 20 percent of cases women on the drug have multiple births or, rarely, quads or quints, her reproductive endocrinologist in Des Moines, Iowa, Dr. Katherine Hauser, was stunned to see seven human fetuses on Bobbi's ultrasound monitor.
"The words shock and disbelief come to mind," Hauser told Time. "For a good length of time, I couldn't wrap my mind around this."
No set of septuplets had previously been known to survive their first few weeks, and though Alexis and Nathan were born with cerebral palsy and all were very underweight at birth, all of the children are healthy.
Bobbi was criticized at the time by many for refusing reducive selection - the procedure of aborting several fetuses so that the others may be born healthy - and although she was at serious risk of stillbirths and miscarriages, as a religious Baptist opposed to abortion, she chose to go through with the pregnancy, the seven babies joining their big sister, Mikayla Marie, as donations flooded in to financially help support the family and give them a new home and even a large capacity van.
Today, Bobbi and husband Kenny are raising their seven 16-year-olds in their hometown of Carlise, Ia. all of the septuplets eager to start planning driving lessons, now sophomores in high school. Their older sister, Mikayla, attends community college, and soon the septuplets will begin preparing for college and the military. Kenny, Kelsey, Natalie, Brandon, Alexis, Nathan and Joel McCaughey all have different career dreams, from teaching to science, and are all part of the school band and perform at half-time shows.
"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."
Bobbi and Kenny are thankful that they have never had to face the lure of starring in their own reality television show.
Click here to see photos of the McCaughey septuplets from birth to now.
