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Septuplets born to Egyptian couple
Categories: Newborns, Pregnancy & Birth, In The News, Weird But True
Ghazala Khamis made history last week when she gave birth to seven apparently healthy babies via c-section, making her only the second mother ever to successfully give birth to septuplets. The children, four girls and three boys, all appear to be doing well and range in weight from 2 pounds to 4 pounds. Khamis recently told the media that she has only seen her children via TV, but that she intends to try and breastfeed them all. (Can you even imagine? Newborns feed up to 12 times a day. Twelve multiplied by seven equals... when do you go to the bathroom?)Khamis and her farmer husband, who earns only £2 a day, one or two days per week, underwent IVF to conceive the children, in a desperate attempt to have a son. The couple are already parents to three daughters. Now that the babies are here, family members are concerned about how they'll care for them. The government has pledged free diapers and milk for two years, but what the family really needs, says Khamis's brother, is a home.
When I was in labor with our second (and last) child, I teased my husband that if he wanted a son, he was on his own, because two times through labor was enough for me. He reassured me that he was perfectly happy with his mini-brood of two girls. The pressure that women must feel in cultures that revere sons over daughters must be extraordinary. Khamis can breathe easy now that she has three sons, but the risks she had to take to get there had to be overwhelming, as their life will likely be from here on out.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
julie 8-18-2008 @ 3:18PM
She was initially pregnant with 9 babies, but 2 died in utero. I can't even imagine. And now they need financial support in raising the babies. I'm all for having big families, but really, shouldn't the owness be on the family (extended or otherwise) for support ESPECIALLY seeing as they went the IVF route to conceive.
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Julie 8-18-2008 @ 3:24PM
Wow, in reading my post, I sound harsh and I apologise. I don't mean to sound so heartless as I love babies and the more the merrier I say. But impregnating oneself with 9 embryos or whatever seems like a lot of effort and planning went into the conception. And somewhere along the way, they didn't question the hows and what ifs? Well at least the father has his sons as that seems to be the motives behind the baby making in the first place...just saying...
Karen 8-18-2008 @ 3:19PM
How did they afford fertility treatments?
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ame s 8-18-2008 @ 5:45PM
I love my children and most other children. But, no one should be out there having more children than they can feed, clothe, and educate, regardless of what country they live in.
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Grace 8-18-2008 @ 11:41PM
These Babies are a gift from God only God could have made these babies not the drug you took enjoy your buddles of joy, May coutiune to Bless you and your family
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RochelleSC 8-21-2008 @ 6:06PM
Why is that people will spend thousands of dollars to have SCIENCE help them get pregnant, but when it comes to having multiple fetuses, many of whom will have developmental issues from being low-birth weight babies, it's always GOD'S WILL? Maybe it was GOD'S WILL that you not have any more children??? Of course, God never gives us more than we can handle, right? Well, I guess these families (McCaughey's, the Gosselin's) need to figure out how to handle it! If you've got the money to pay for IVF, then you'd better have the money to pay for ALL of the consequences.
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Crazazay 8-22-2008 @ 11:43PM
I don't think the saying "It takes a village to raise a child' means "Have children you cannot possibly ever take care of financially because everyone else can pay for them out of their paycheck".
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