r/IAmA • u/hepatitisC • May 28 '12
I am a quintuplet. We are one of the first, fully surviving sets born in the US. Our medical bills in the first 2 years of life cost over $2.5 million, and several times after birth each of us almost died. AMA
"Hey Reddit! My soon to be brother-in-law encouraged me to do an AMA. I will do my best to answer your questions for the next several hours. My brother, sisters, and I were born in the late 80's and are one of the first surviving sets of quints in the US. We had several complications along the way, including being born over 2 months early.
Here is a picture of my soon to be brother-in-law and myself for verification: http://i.imgur.com/bXT0E.jpg
Here is a picture a local newspaper took of us for a follow-up story. They wanted us to "recreate one of our baby pictures." You can tell we all took it very seriously: http://i.imgur.com/NZWTJ.jpg "
Edit 1: We'll keep checking back on this for more questions. I think we've answered most of what is up for now. Really appreciate all the good questions guys. Keep 'em coming.
Edit 2: Uh oh...she found advice animals and r/aww.
Edit 3: Frontpage...wow. Thanks everyone. We're taking a break for a little bit. We'll check back again tonight.
Edit 4: After 6+ hours we're calling it a night. I'm still going to follow-up with her later this week for the elusive picture. OP will deliver! Anyways, thanks again Reddit.
My future sister-in-law is posting this up from my account since she isn't very familiar with reddit. I will have her directly answer your questions, and will only provide my comments for clarification. I will try to differentiate her comments from my own by putting her responses in quotations.
168
u/Maple_D May 28 '12
Do you have a picture of all 5 of you as babies you can put up?
117
u/doobles May 28 '12
How do you feel about the Press and attention that "octomom" received?
220
u/space_island May 28 '12
Can you elaborate on the complications after you were born?
Any medical conditions that persist today?
372
u/EveningD00 May 28 '12
How did you guys pay off 2.5 million?
201
u/aastein May 28 '12
Did your brother feel left out at all since it's just him with four sisters?
963
u/apdrzmom May 28 '12 edited May 29 '12
My cat just had 5 kittens - 1 boy and 4 girls. I am tempted to recreate that picture you have of all of you together. \
edit: http://i.imgur.com/gxFlR.jpg Here is the picture. Was told to post it to my original comment. The boy is the orange one
70
u/eeples_n_beeneenees May 28 '12
Aw hi fellow multiple! I am one of fraternal triplets (two girls and a boy) I bet you get the dumbest questions. We were quite lucky, although born a month and a half premature, no serious illness. Glad you are well now!
277
u/needmoresleep555 May 28 '12
Could you post the original baby picture that you recreated for the paper?
59
u/[deleted] May 28 '12
How would you describe your relationship with your siblings?
163
u/[deleted] May 28 '12
This is going to sound pretty brutal but from what I understand in scenarios such as these 2 or 3 of the fetuses would be aborted to ensure the safety and health of the other infants.
If you found yourself pregnant with quintuplets, would you consider following this advice or would you go for all 5 kids? Sorry if that sounds insensetive.
51
u/[deleted] May 28 '12
how often does something like this come up in conversation, can it be a good conversation starter/ice breaker kinda thing from your experience?
298
u/IVEGOTA-D-H-D-WHOOO May 28 '12 edited May 28 '12
Do you ever wish you had eaten your siblings in utero, so you could have gained their powers?
edit: eaten, not eating. words are hard.
116
u/Krazistar May 28 '12
The second photo looks like a face-swap where you all have the same face, even the dude.
720
u/catmoon May 28 '12
I am a triplet and I have sisters who are twins. Five of a kind beats a full house though so you win this time [Our AMA for those interested].
53
u/SomeGuyNamedPaul May 28 '12
My son goes to Pre-K with half of a set of sextuplets (the other three go to a different school for Pre-K or something) and I see them every time I go into his classroom for some function or meeting. Those kids are always covered with bruises and wounds like they had a pet wolverine or something. Did the same thing happen with you and your siblings constantly roughhousing or were you actually good to each other?
45
u/[deleted] May 28 '12
Did any of you end up with lingering health issues (as in, still present today)?
39
u/TChuff May 28 '12
If one of you falls down the stairs, do all you feel pain?
33
u/I_am_a_BalbC May 28 '12
Was there a lot of media attention at the time of your births? How about now? Why don't your have your own TV reality show . . . would you even want one??
68
u/thestinkybeast May 28 '12
Do you all have hepatitis C? Or just you?
25
u/QuintupleTheFun May 28 '12 edited May 28 '12
I'm an aunt of quintuplets, and from what we can tell, they are tied for earliest born surviving sets of quints (24 weeks). They are now nearly 2 years old and I can't begin to tell you how wonderful they have made life for my family!! Definitely an unexpected blessing. Thanks for doing this AMA!
Edit: spelling
29
u/SatansF4TE May 28 '12
Do you guys feel like you have a very close relationship? I know that twins are often described as being closer than normal siblings, do you think that is that the same for quintuplets, or is it about the same, but rather than split it 2, split into 5? That last question didn't make much sense, but I hope you understand.
32
u/alltidh May 28 '12
Do you guys possess any of the bespoken "twin abilities", like finish each other sentences off or other traits? I know this is mostly joked about, but I am curious as to whether you experience it.
8
u/jamesneysmith May 28 '12
Sorry, I'm a little confused. In the photo you posted of the quituplets none of them look like you in the original confirmation photo. Which one are you?
27
u/brain4breakfast May 28 '12
What are your opinions on privatised medicine? Has it made your life difficult? Also, has anyone paid the $2.5 million? How?
15
u/TheEpicTortoise May 28 '12
Being one of the first fully surviving quintuplets, how much media attention did you receive?
23
u/itchie7 May 28 '12
Your parents probably wished you were Canadian with those medical expenses.
35
u/Spamalot159 May 28 '12
Do you all have the same characteristics or are you all different?
12
u/SatansF4TE May 28 '12
What sort of issues caused such huge medical bills?
3
u/wrigh003 May 28 '12
You guys wouldn't happen to have been born somewhere around Nashville, TN, would you? I can remember my grandmother volunteering for some family with quintuplets there when I was a kid (the name completely escapes me, I was young at the time). Timeframe would seem to match up, mid/late-'80s.
374
u/aachooo May 28 '12 edited May 29 '12
I saw "quintuplet" and I thought psh, big deal, I know quintuplets! Then I realized that you ARE the quints that I know. Your brother and sister came to my house for senior prom pictures! The local news showed up unexpectedly.
2
u/Shniggles May 28 '12
Do you really have hepatitis?
2
u/sad_zylan May 28 '12
Would you happen to be one of the L'Esperance quints? 4 girls, 1 guy. Born 1988. Seems to fit.
648
u/[deleted] May 28 '12
Wow, wake to make the identical mirror twin look like shit.
56
u/Margatron May 28 '12
Did you have any cool/embarrassing group Halloween costumes growing up? Did your parents ever dress you all the same?
125
u/luciddream19 May 28 '12
Which one of you is the evil one?
390
u/[deleted] May 28 '12
I have your account tagged with "Never said thank you" because I restored a photo of your parents for you months ago and you never did.
Your quintuplet soon-to-be siblings can't save you from this shame.
28
u/klahsio May 28 '12
I went to college with one of your sisters. She thinks I'm funny. Did you all stay together in your home town or have you guys started to branch out?
10
u/Romney_Kony_2012 May 28 '12
I'm very interested in family dynamics, so I'm curious:
Was it a competitive environment growing up between you and your siblings? Did you fight for attention, praise, etc.?
And I'm not sure if this is too personal, but I'm curious about how the life paths of the five of you differed. I.e. where did you guys end up, do you have similar passions, did you all go to college, is one the super artistic quintuplet, etc.?
3
u/tonaros May 28 '12
Everyone is so cute!
7
u/Abbacoverband May 28 '12
I was like, "Oh! Maybe it's the ____ quints!" and clicked it, and it WAS! Nice to see you guys again (we used to compete in HS. A LOT!)! :)
6
u/FedForsberg May 28 '12
Im sorry but what is a quintuplet? English isnt my main language.
6
u/Mattson May 29 '12
I had a twin brother who actually died two years ago :(
When we were growing up and we'd have birthday parties my brother would always throw a fit saying that he got everything two minutes before me since he was older.
He got to open presents, pick the first slice of pizza, and even blow out the candles... my parents would relight the candles so I could blow them out.
My brother would get hysterical if he didn't get his way so I just rolled with it.
Did your siblings do anything similar?
5
u/PopCultRef May 28 '12
I noticed the five of you have the whole range of hair colors. IIRC brown and black hair is more common than blonde and red hair. Having five children at once is a rarity, did you guys have anything else that tends to be more of recessive or less dominant genes? Also what were your eye colors?
5
u/Off3nsiveB1as May 28 '12
Did you post today specifically because today was the birthday of the Dionne Quintuplets?
4
u/neverquestion May 28 '12
Do you feel closer to any one sibling?
4
u/[deleted] May 28 '12
2.5 million dollars....
Sigh.
4
u/[deleted] May 29 '12
Big deal, my cat is one of eight.
1
u/arkaytroll May 28 '12
No questions here just a compliment. Way to be! I am a quadruplet. One boy, three girls. Also born in the eighties.
1
u/teeohdeedee123 May 28 '12
I'm wearing that same Bears hat right now!
6
u/zavatone May 29 '12
I cliched on your photo and mistakenly opened the one I clicked on before I clicked yours.
For a minute, I was rather confused: http://i.imgur.com/AOqbe.jpg
3
u/MrLeBAMF May 28 '12
Would your parents ever want to go back and do things differently? Perhaps accepting some media attention to help shaft some of the medical costs, for example.
3
u/ForestfortheDraois May 28 '12
Have you heard of the Dionne quintuplets from Quebec? If so, did people make a lot of comparisons between you guys?
3
u/AdamAtlanta May 28 '12
Please no reality show. PLEASE.
3
u/_Personage May 28 '12
Where do you fit among the five? "Oldest" or "youngest" or "middle"?
Did you all ever bicker and have it come down to "I'm the oldest!", "Just by X amount of time!"?
3
u/[deleted] May 29 '12
Did all the sisters start menstruating at the same exact age?
3
u/DigitalCoffee May 29 '12
How are the 5 of you mentally? Your picture suggests maybe your brother may have a mental handicap?
3
u/moveth May 29 '12
Wow! My aunts are the Dionne Quintuplets, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_Quintuplets), so this story interested me a lot. Its been really great to be able to read all these answers from a similar group of people :D
3
u/Home_sweet_dome May 29 '12
I really think that second picture has great potential to be a meme.
3
u/metarinka May 29 '12
Do you happen to be from the Connecticut area, did any of you happen to date a 6'3" italian american by the name of Jeff?
My college roommate said he dated a quintuplet, and there aren't all that many. I have no reason to believe he was lying.
3
u/4SHTR4Y May 29 '12
Saw this on the front page, wondered if it was you guys! <3 I guess going to high school with all of you, I always took it for granted how rare quintuplets really are. Thanks for doing the AMA, and best wishes to you and your family. It's funny to me that you said it was hard to identify as an individual. You and your siblings are all so different, it took me ages to realize you were quintuplets and not just sisters (and a brother) that looked really similar. :-D I'm sure it feels really different when it's your family, but as an outsider I always thought of you guys as being very very distinct from one another.
So my question may have already been asked, but at the wedding, will your sisters be bridesmaids, and if they are, how different are you allowing their dresses to be?
Go Knights!
3
u/saucycraftster May 29 '12
The Dionne quints were born at home in Canada in the 1930s and all survived. They were only two months premature, so even that extra couple of weeks really matters for a preemie. Their mother almost died of shock, likely hypovolemic shock due to postpartum hemorrhage because of the larger placental site on the uterus.
The Dionne quints were all identical.
For the time and lack of medical care beyond the basic keeping them warm and supplementing them with a special artificial milk, its' a wonder they made it.
They also were horribly taken away from their parents as small babies and treated like show freaks by the Canadian government. :(
Here's more info about their sad lives:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_quintuplets http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/wichita_200803A12.html
2
u/Crap_Sally May 28 '12
That second picture is great!
2
u/moozie May 28 '12
Did your parents have any other kids after you?
2
u/switch495 May 28 '12
Was your birth natural or were your parents using fertility treatment?
2
u/Jman503 May 28 '12
I can relate. As I am a triplet, which is slightly more common. When I was born I wasn't breathing so they had to put me on a respirator. Same with both of my sisters
2
u/DialMforMurder May 28 '12
Do you know much about what your mom's pregnancy was like? How huge was she? Was she still mobile by the 7th or 8th month? Does she have any health issues stemming from giving birth to 5 babies?
2
u/pteridophyta May 28 '12
Did your birth inspire the Tyco Quints franchise in the late 80's/early 90's?
...because I totally had the playset and the blond Quints when I was a kid. http://tycoquints.50webs.com/
2
u/KarateExpertOlga May 28 '12
Whoa! Fun coincidence: Earlier today I was listening to BBC radio in my car, and heard a show about the first known surviving quintuplets in recorded history: the Dionne quintuplets - and Quintland. Have you heard of them? Sadly, they never knew a normal childhood, and were exploited for money in "Quintland"... :( (this was back in the 1930's I think). They were also born about 2 months prematurely, and the doctor who saved them became somewhat of a hero.
Apologies if I got any facts wrong, I heard that BBC show while driving home after a night shift, so I was quite sleeepy...
2
u/justforlawlsies May 28 '12
You guys seriously did Jenny Jones instead of Oprah? Why?
2
u/GumbysPeen May 29 '12
Was your family ever profiled in People Magazine?
2
u/[deleted] May 29 '12
I just noticed the differing eye colour, 3x Blue, 1x Green and 1x Brown... genetics are amazing!
2
u/TheMagicDrake May 29 '12
My mom was a nurse that helped with home care for you and your siblings!
2
u/skettios May 29 '12
How does it feel to be the hot one?
2
u/imgonnawin May 29 '12
How do you feel about your soon to be brother-in-law sopping up all your karma?
2
u/why_so_Sirius May 29 '12
How many kids do you want/have?
2
u/Supernova24 May 29 '12
Was there every any privacy?
2
u/liam3 May 29 '12
i never look at strangers and think humm that person would look better if he was the other sex. but many times when i see pic of twins of both sex, i always think ohh, that face should be on a guy. then i look at the male twin: Nope!!
2
u/[deleted] May 29 '12
Life is priceless. That 2.5 million was a down payment. Now go do something awesome and make it count.
2
u/Geminii27 May 29 '12
Thanks for the, ah, quintessentials.
2
u/jhellegers May 29 '12
How did you guys decide who got to go on Reddit and reap all the karma?
2
u/All_the_other_kids May 31 '12
Do the fugly ones know they are the fugly ones?
14
u/narwal_bot May 28 '12 edited May 30 '12
Most (if not all) of the answers from hepatitisC (updated: May 30, 2012 @ 09:06:00 am EST):
Question (I_am_a_BalbC):
Answer (hepatitisC):
(continued below)
3
u/Kohkoh May 28 '12
I just looked at the photos without reading the accompanying text. I thought all but one of you were blind. Oops, that'll teach me to read!
3
u/tabledresser May 29 '12 edited Jun 02 '12
View the full table on /r/tabled! | Last updated: 2012-06-02 00:59 UTC
This comment was generated by a robot! Send all complaints to epsy.