What world’s first ever surviving septuplets are up to more than 20 years later
A couple who had complications with conceiving their firstborn were shocked to find out that they were expecting seven children on their second attempt.
Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey decided to use fertility treatments when baby Mikayla was 16 months old, in an attempt to give her a sibling without the stresses that they faced the first time.
They used Metrodin, a drug that stimulates the ovaries to prepare reluctant eggs for fertilisation.
It worked, maybe a bit too well, as they were told at the six-week check-in that there were seven foetuses growing.
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Though this wasn't the first time it had happened in history, the couple were warned by health professionals about the dangers of birthing multiple children at once.
While the risk of miscarriages and stillbirths was high, Bobbi defied the odds and successfully delivered all seven of the babies, albeit prematurely.
The American mum wouldn't make it to 40 weeks, with her belly even measuring 55 inches across at the 30-week mark and her bump almost reaching her knees.
On 19 November 1997, the babies were born, named: Kenneth Robert, Alexis May, Natalie Sue, Kelsey Ann, Brandon James, Nathan Roy and Joel Steven.
Then-President Bill Clinton even called the couple in Carlisle, Iowa, to give his congratulations, in news that shook the nation, as the septuplets became the first set to ever be born alive.
After three months in hospital, the babies were healthy enough to come home, where the parents had to be budget-savvy. This was good, considering that they were going through 42 bottles and up to 70 diapers a day.
But almost three decades on, after growing up in a seven-bedroom home gifted to their parents by the Clark Company, what are the siblings doing now?
Back in 2022, the family caught up with USA Today as the septuplets turned 25.
At the time, four were married, as well as Mikayla, with there being four children among the eight siblings.
Kelsey, who was living in Missouri, said: “When we are all together, it’s just the best time.
“Those times are even more sacred now. They are so incredibly sweet with all our significant others and kids.”
Their large family home has since been donated to a nonprofit named Ruth Harbor, which aims to support young mothers, as Bobbi and Kenny moved to a different part of the state.
Bobbi admitted: “I love it when everybody gets back home. It doesn’t happen often.
"It’s crowded and noisy. I love seeing the driveway full of cars and grandkids riding bikes.”
Natalie went on: “One thing we do, and it sounds ridiculous,
“We played a song in band, ‘Crazy Cat,’ and all had our parts. On the way home we would sing the sounds of our parts. We do that now when we get together.”
Brandon joined the US Army, where he was a sergeant in 2022, marrying a woman named Alana and having a child.
Natalie would graduate from Hannibal-LaGrange University with a degree in exercise science, and she even met her husband on campus.
She then began to work as a patient care technician at a local hospital, though her responsibilities would grow amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kenneth, AKA Kenny, sadly admitted that he sometimes feels lonely after growing up with so many people in the house.
Now married, he was expecting a son at the time, who would be a Kenny like him and his father before him.
“I tell people that I don’t know how they did it. That would be crazy,” he said of his parents bringing them up.
“When we were first born, they had help, but after that, I never thought how they were able to be sane.”
Joel and Nathan graduated from Hannibal-LaGrange with degrees in computer information systems, with both in IT.
Nathan and Alexis were born with cerebral palsy, though the latter said she is proud of her brother: "Watching him be so independent and live in his own place and drive to work and provide for himself has been really cool to watch."
Despite this, Alexis earned her liberal arts degree at Hannibal-LaGrange and now works with children at a child care company.
Kelsey had a budding career in music, but dropped it to pursue a career in public relations, soon becoming the campus news station reporter, though she would move behind the camera, and became a receptionist in a medical office.
Joshua Nair