M
McCaughey septuplets
Identification The world’s first living set of
septuplets
Born November 19, 1997; Des Moines, Iowa
News media worldwide celebrated the birth of Bobbi
McCaughey’s septuplets as a medical miracle. Conception
had been facilitated by infertility treatment, and advances
in medical technology assured the septuplets’ survival.
On November 19, 1997, Kelsey, Brandon, Nathan,
Joel, Alexis, Natalie, and Kenneth McCaughey were
delivered nine weeks early by cesarean section at
Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines,
Iowa. Their birth weight ranged from two pounds,
five ounces, to three pounds, four ounces. Like their
older sister, Mikayla, the septuplets were conceived
with the help of Metrodin, an ovulation-stimulating
fertility drug.
Early in the course of Bobbi McCaughey’s second
pregnancy, a sonogram revealed the presence of
seven babies. Pregnancies with a high number of fe-
tuses pose a significant health risk to both the
mother and her unborn children. A reduction in the
number of fetuses by selective abortion was dis-
cussed with the expecting parents, but this was an
option that Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey, funda-
mentalist Christians, refused. On October 15, the
expecting mother was hospitalized so that her high-
risk pregnancy could be closely monitored. Two
weeks later, on October 29, the press received word
of the pending delivery and poured into town. The
McCaugheys appointed a spokesperson to help
them deal with the onslaught of requests for inter-
views and statements.
Impact Forty health care workers, including nurses,
respiratory therapists, neonatologists, anesthesiolo-
gists, and obstetricians, attended the babies’ deliv-
ery. The news media closely informed the general
public about the birth and progress of the sep-
tuplets, and this led to an avalanche of congratula-
tions and gifts. U.S. president Bill Clinton chatted
with the mother over the phone. Iowa’s governor
committed to the construction of a larger home for
“The Seven from Heaven.” The citizens of Carlisle,
Iowa, home of the McCaughey family, provided
housekeeping, cooking, and day-and-night child
care services. Donations to the family included dia-
pers for life, one year of free groceries, university
scholarships, and a fifteen-seat van. The birth was
celebrated as a medical miracle. There was little dis-
cussion of the financial burden to society: The cost
of the birth and prolonged hospitalization of the
seven has been estimated at $1.2 million. The injudi-
cious use of a fertility drug responsible for higher-
order pregnancies also escaped media scrutiny.Subsequent Events The news media’s initial claim
that seven healthy babies had been born was not en-
tirely accurate. Two of the babies relied on feeding
tubes until they were four years old. Another suf-
fered seizures, and two were diagnosed with cerebral
palsy.Further Reading
Halvorson, George, and George Isham. “Miracles
Cost Money.” InEpidemic of Care. A Call for Safer,
Better, and More Accountable Health Care, edited by
George Halvorson and George Isham. San Fran-
cisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.
Klotzko, Arlene. “Medical Miracle or Medical Mis-
chief? The Saga of the McCaughey Septuplets.”
Hastings Center Report28, no. 3 (May/June, 1998):
5-8.
Pence, Gregory. “The McCaughey Septuplets: God’s
Will or Human Choice?” InBioethics: An Anthology,
edited by Helga Kuhse and Peter Singer. Malden,
Mass.: Blackwell, 2006.
Elisabeth FaaseSee also Abortion; Health care; Journalism; Medi-
cine.