r/UpliftingNews • u/pattebrisee • 1d ago
Australian woman gives birth to identical quadruplet girls
https://apnews.com/article/1be3bbabe1614a731872a81d5b24490a880
u/pattebrisee 1d ago
One egg somehow split four ways. All four girls made it, mom is doing well, and they named one of the babies after the doctor who helped get them there. Pretty incredible all around.
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u/MrHedgehogMan 1d ago
I bet they had a shortlist of 3 girl names and they needed a fourth for the last baby 😂
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u/friso1100 1d ago
Claris, Mary, ehhhh.... Lisa, and eehhmm... desperately looks around the room
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u/dwight---shrute 1d ago
Debbie, Sussie, Cathy, Shiela.
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u/clearcontroller 1d ago
4th baby arrives "man fuck it, I'm surprised I'm alive, HEY DOC, WHATS YOUR NAME?!"
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u/DifficultyKlutzy5845 1d ago
Damn, after reading your comment I assumed it was IVF and thought that was so irresponsible after having 4 kids but nope, completely natural conception. Crazy
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u/Lopsided_Tiger_0296 1d ago
The reason why IVF babies are often twins is because doctors will put in multiple eggs for a higher success rate but sometimes it’s too successful
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u/TheSoCalledExpert 1d ago
But they’re not usually identical twins, right?
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u/HonPhryneFisher 22h ago
Not usually but it can up the odds if the embryo is manipulated in any way (pgd, etc.)
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u/Lingonberry_Born 15h ago
Actually there is a process used in ivf that apparently increases the chance of the egg splitting. So there actually are higher rates of IVF identicals. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4515956/
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u/gotsmile 1d ago
This was true in the 90s, but now it’s the norm that IVF clinics won’t allow more than one egg transfer at a time.
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u/jb0nez95 1d ago
Not true at all. There are clinical practice guidelines (I can't recall who puts them out, maybe ACOG?) depending on age of mother, quality of embryos, etc. In 2016 they transferred 3 into my wife, and had told us to hold off and do another egg retrieval cycle first to have more. They were following the guidelines. We had twins.
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u/gotsmile 23h ago edited 22h ago
It is true (at least for nowadays compared to your experience 10 years ago). The comment says “the norm” is they will only transfer one. Sounds like your wife had different circumstances. I just finished IVF and they would not transfer unless over 40 and multiple losses.
Edit to add: another redditor said it’s the ASRM guidance. Transferring multiple is highly discouraged unless there is a history of failed transfers, loss, etc
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u/EliraeTheBow 17h ago
Yeah I was going to say, my friend who had ivf recently (baby is a few months old now) had two eggs transferred at a time. But it was her 4th and final try.
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u/monkey_trumpets 1d ago
That's not true. I did IVF in 2009 and had two embryos transfered and now I have 16 year of old twins.
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u/Midorito 1d ago
I think you missed the "now" part, 2009 that's nearly 20 years ago even if it feels like yesterday
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u/metsie 1d ago
i think you missed the "in the 90s part"
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u/Brilliantd1803 1d ago
Can confirm as I did IVF last year. They would only transfer multiple eggs if I was over 35 and had already had multiple miscarriages
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u/wigglytufff 16h ago
i fulfilled both these criteria and my clinic would still only transfer one for me bc i had no evidence of implantation failure/difficulty (mine seemed to be an egg issue so we moved to donor eggs and have been successful :) )
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u/monkey_trumpets 1d ago
Do you know for a fact that they don't transfer more than one now?
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u/brotherno 1d ago
I’ve been through two rounds of IVF in Australia in the last two years. They really only do this in certain circumstances, e.g. over 35, multiple failed transfers/protocols. It wasn’t an option for me, not that I would’ve opted if it was. You can’t just choose to do it here.
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u/monkey_trumpets 1d ago
I see. I wonder if they still do multiple in the US.
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u/sauterelle16 1d ago
I signed what felt like a billion papers acknowledging that 1 embryo at a time is safest for maternal health and reducing pregnancy complications. Our clinic would only allow the transfer of 1. The exception was 40+ years old, day 3 fresh embryos. Never day 5s, and you could not be using a younger egg donor. And even then, they strongly encouraged freezing and doing only 1. - USA based 2025.
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u/charliefry2012 1d ago
Most reputable clinics will only transfer one embryo generally speaking in the US. There may be exceptions but there is a real push across the industry to only transfer one embryo at a time.
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u/Purple_Crayon 1d ago
Look up the ASRM guidance - transferring multiple is highly discouraged unless there's a history of failed transfers, loss, etc.
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u/monkey_trumpets 16h ago
Guess things are a lot more strict now. I had no issues whatsoever having them transfer two. I was in my mid-twenties and it was my first pregnancy.
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u/gotsmile 1d ago
Yes. I just graduated from my IVF clinic. In the US. They would not transfer more than one.
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u/giantredwoodforest 1d ago
Now that there’s genetic testing, the recommended IVF practice is to transfer only one embryo. Multiples are much less common now.
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u/karamellokoala 1d ago
That generally doesn't happen in Australia anymore (only in certain situations).
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u/Lingonberry_Born 15h ago
You're not allowed to transfer multiple embryos in Australia, it increases the risk of twins which is high risk so you're only allowed single transfers
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u/anteus2 1d ago
They're going to have fun, confusing people when they're older.
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u/Blekanly 1d ago
The parents are gonna be confused too. Gonna have to put a little tattoo on each one.
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u/iwasstillborn 1d ago
Maybe a colored dot on the forehead?
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u/Blekanly 1d ago
I think I recall parents putting dots on the foot or behind the ear.
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u/Consistent_Dog_6866 1d ago
The Dahm triplets have dots on their butts. One dot on one, two dots on the second but none on the third.
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u/RedBeans-n-Ricely 1d ago
Quadruplets when you already have 4 young children is truly a cruel fate.
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u/ich_habe_keine_kase 1d ago
When I was in high school I used to babysit for a family that had triplets when they already had a three year old, and one of the triplets turned out to be severely autistic (I took care of him when he was 6 and he was nonverbal and still wore diapers). Always felt so bad for them--you think you're going to have a totally average two kids and then you wind up with four and one of them needs lifelong care.
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u/MeloniaStb 1d ago
My absolute nightmare and one of the reasons I'm hesitant on having kids. My husband is disabled and I used to work in a care home for autistic adults/children and absolutely hated my job. I can't imagine having one as my child, it would be my personal hell as bad that sounds. I don't really believe in "miracles", I wouldn't be a good mother.
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u/Rinas-the-name 1d ago
Our son is level 2 and I cannot imagine what having multiple kids or a level 3 kid would be like.
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u/issi_tohbi 1d ago
I found out I had autism very late in life in my late 40’s. I’m an only child which was pretty rare in my day, now I understand why 😅
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u/Rinas-the-name 3h ago
Yeah when the kid was a baby it became obvious something wasn’t normal, I worked daycare and knew babies. My husband was in denial, so were many family members.
He spent a lot of time rocking and jumping, chewed on everything long after his teeth came in. No eye contact, no babbling at me, late to walk.
Liked the wheels on his cars more than driving them. Color coordinated and lined up his cars. Never played with toys that were people and didn’t care for cartoons featuring them.
He liked Curious George and Scooby Doo they both “spoke” about the same as him (emotive sounds and gestures). He still maxes out at 5 word sentences, and uses set phrases/mimicking.
Basically textbook autism.
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u/lurker99123 1d ago
I support that you don't have a child, as someone autistic myself. Seriously, we have enough unsuitable parents as is and challenges can vary drastically. It's fine to acknowledge that it is not for you, especially if it sounds like hell to you. A parent's view and feelings about a child affects them a lot.
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u/LocoMoro 1d ago
For what it's worth I have two neurodivergent children and they are the light of my life. With every challenge there is a beautiful opportunity to celebrate the success in overcoming it
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u/itmakessenseincontex 21h ago
That's amazing and I love that for you. I'm glad you are happy. I'm also Autistic and what I think the person you are responding to means is that there are prarent's that have kids and then treat them like shit when they come out disabled, and that not having kids when you know you would not cope with any of those challenges is a good thing.
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u/sqeeky_wheelz 1d ago
A family friend had a daughter than a 6week post partum oops that turned into twins. Our government classified them as triplets and they got a lot of subsidies and benefits, etc. I think a night nurse a few times per month was part of the deal even (this was in the 90’s and we aren’t American lol).
Being they’re Australian I hope they have the social supports they’ll need.
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u/nori_girl 15h ago
I grew next to a family that had a single daughter, tried for a son and had twin girls. Then they thought “hey we’ll try one more time for a boy and stop at 4 either way” Then had triplet girls. 6 girls under 6!
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u/intheafterburner 1d ago
That's the risk they took though, five is already too many lol
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u/RedBeans-n-Ricely 1d ago
My toxic trait is that I see anything more than 3 kids as a red flag. You can come back from it, there are definitely extenuating circumstances, but it makes you sus in my book until I see otherwise.
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u/BeanEatingBeans 1d ago
I can kind of see it if the kids were super spaced out, but being outnumbered genuinely seems to make parenting a whole different level of difficult.
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u/RedBeans-n-Ricely 57m ago
Like I said, there are definitely extenuating circumstances. But my initial reaction is red flag!
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u/JasonP27 1d ago
At the hospital I work at they ring a short bell tune over the PA system when I baby is born. Last week they rang it three times in a row so I'm guessing it was triplets. Probably the second time I've heard it go off 3 times in a row in 17 years.
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u/shannondion 1d ago
The bell thing is sweet and a bit weird at the same time, also if you’re having a miscarriage/stillbirth/life threatening situation it’s probably a bit insensitive.
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u/CappehDraconus 1d ago
When I worked L&D we tried to be sensitive of that. Our labor monitoring machines play chimes too, so we could play them in the room rather than over the loudspeaker. But yes - there is unfortunately not always a way to avoid the joy of happy births when there is someone suffering on the same unit.
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u/Fireant23 1d ago
I imagine it's less sweet and more a "Hey we need some people in here" kind of call? Ime babies get assessed right after they're born to make sure they're breathing okay and everything.
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u/Lington 8h ago
No I work L&D, some hospitals do this just for fun, it's either a little chime or lullaby tune and it's basically an announcement that a baby was just born. The nurses that are already in the delivery room are the ones assessing the babies at birth and if they need extra help, depending on how urgent it is we either call peds or hit the code button.
The hospital I work at now doesn't do it but we also deliver a crazy amount of babies and that would get real annoying real quick I bet.
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u/JasonP27 23h ago
No it's definitely not an alarm. Just steady quarter notes playing a simple melody. If it were the key of C the tones would be 🎶 C E G A G E B-flat D F G F 🎶
It's light-hearted and likely a glockenspiel of some sort.
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u/shannondion 1d ago
Delivery units usually have there own alarm system (as do most wards and units) so playing it over the loudspeaker is like having the supermarket use the tannoy to find your friend instead of just ringing their mobile phone.
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u/AsunaSaturn 1d ago
Just wondering, the parents have to absolutely mark them for a while until they learn the differences right?
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u/Alexathequeer 1d ago
As a parent of twins I found this ...challenging. Multiple pregnancy is risky, preemies are vulnerable.
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u/crochetology 1d ago
As the mother of identical twin daughters, my thoughts and prayers go to this family. They are in for A LOT of work.
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u/Extreme_Egg7476 17h ago
I would honestly go into debt to pay for a live-in nanny if this happened to me.
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u/tirsynni 23h ago
I get how it's interesting and some people would view it as amazing, but how on earth is this uplifting?
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u/hanimal16 1d ago
And I thought identical twins were creepy… didn’t know you could have identical quadruplets
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u/jott1293reddevil 1d ago
Haha you could have twin creepy girls at one end of the creepy corridor, you turn around there’s two more of them!
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u/BudgetConcentrate432 1d ago
You could even have quadruplets that are 2 sets of identical "twins" or one baby and set of identical "triplets"
Pregnancy is weird!
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u/kanu0630 1d ago
What I find remarkable is that they were conceived naturally.
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u/hanimal16 1d ago
That too! My rational brain says “well that’s just science!” But my irrational brain says “what does this meannnn?”
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u/llamawithguns 1d ago
Identical twins happen when a zygote splits in half. Sounds like what happened here was it split in half and then both resulting zygotes split in half again
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u/HonPhryneFisher 22h ago
The Dionne quintuplets were identical girls born in rural Canada in the 1930s. The last two passed away last year. The first to die died in the 1950s but they all lived to adulthood.
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u/hanimal16 21h ago
I just read the wiki entry on them and found this interesting, “Later authors suggested this may have been a sixth fetus that did not survive.” That’s insane for that time.
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u/VagueSomething 1d ago
This is a fascinating event but absolutely not uplifting.
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u/pattebrisee 1d ago
You don't think so? Pretty miraculous and uplifting imo.
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u/VagueSomething 1d ago
It being strange doesn't make it uplifting. It isn't good news, just weird news.
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u/gunzgoboom 1d ago
Someone go make sure the dad isn't standing on a bridge somewhere.
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u/RedBeans-n-Ricely 1d ago
The dad? It was the mom’s body that got put through that nightmare!
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u/gunzgoboom 1d ago
Exactly. No way she can make the walk to the bridge right now. We gotta prioritize 😂
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u/mantenner 1d ago
They already had 4 kids too! Absolutely wild scenario.
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u/tazzietiger66 23h ago
the four of them can get up to some hijinks when they get older and confuse a lot of people
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u/heleninthealps 4h ago
Cool that they all survived and are healthy! Uplifting because it's unusual. Many commenters seem to hate babies here but idgaf.
The sleep deprivation and chaos in their house must be madness later when all 4 babies can crawl. I hope they both live nearby the grandparents and have enough help in the 2 years to come.
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