Facts About Multiples
An Encyclopedia of Multiple Birth Records

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Total Sets
I have recorded 19 sets of octuplets in the world as of June 2012. 5 of those sets have had survivors.

All Surviving
2012 - 8 survive - unknown (Pakistan, June 2012) 8 girls - Reportedly all survive. Parents requested limited info be released, so there isn't a lot of verification.
2009 - 8 survive - Suleman (California, January 26 2009) 6 boys, 2 girls - Noah (2lbs 11ozs), Maliyah (2 lbs 12ozs), Isaiah (3lbs 4ozs), Nariyah (2lbs 8ozs), Jonah (1lb 8ozs), Jeremiah (2lbs 12 ozs), Makai (1lb 15ozs), Josiah (2lbs 11ozs). They were born 9 weeks premature at 30.5 weeks. The mother has 6 other children, including fraternal twins Caleb & Calyssa (October 1 2006). Early reports stated that there were two sets of identical twins, as she had only 6 embryos implanted. Court cases have since revealed she had 12 embryos implanted, and all the children are fraternal.

Surviving Sets

1998 - 7 survive - Chukwu/Louis (Texas, December 8 and 20 1998) Ebuka 1lb 6ozs, Chidi 1lb 8.4 ozs, Echerem 1lb 9.7ozs, Chima 1lb 7.5ozs, Odera 10.3ozs (d Dec 27 1998), Gorom 1lb 7ozs, Ikem (boy) 1lb, Jioke (boy) 1lb 10ozs, at 25 and 27 weeks.

1996 - 6 survive - Raposo/Clavijo (Spain, December 5 1996) David, Angel, Miguel, Andres, Belen, Blanca, unknown (d early in utero), unknown (d Dec 5) at 30 weeks. Weights ranged from 1lb 10ozs to 3lbs 1oz.

2000 - 4 survive - Mazzara Pierrera (Italy, Sep 13 & 17 2000) Rosa Maria, Marta, Connie, Cristina (d Sep 18), Margherita (d Oct 10), Michele (b), Angelo Gabriele (b, d Sep 17), Girolamo (b, d Sep 20), born at 26 weeks.

1979 - 2 survive - Chianese (Italy, August 16 1979) Silvana, Anna, Valentina (d), girl (d), girl (d), Luca (d), Francesco (d), boy (d). The family had lost a set of sextuplets before this.

unknown - unidentified (Algeria) Reports of 6 girls surviving.

Most Surviving
8 - Noah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Makai, Josiah, Isaiah, Nariyah and Maliyah Suleman (California, January 26 2009) 6 boys, 2 girls. 1.8lbs to 3.4 lbs.
7 - Ebuka, Chidi, Echerem, Chima, Gorom, Ikem, Jioke Louis (Texas, December 20 1998) .
6 - David, Angel, Miguel, Andres, Belen and Blanca Raposo/Clavijo (Spain, December 5 1996).
6 - Unidentified (Algeria) 6 girls survive. Unsure of this stat.
4 - Michele (b), Rosa Maria, Marta and Connie Mazzara Pierrera (Italy, September 13 and 17 2000).
2 - Silvana and Anna Chianese (Italy, August 16 1979)  

Spontaneous Sets (naturally conceived)
There have been 5 sets conceived/born without fertility drugs (possibly 6).

Other Sets
There have been 19 recorded cases of octuplets. Visit the World Octuplets section for more.

1971 - Brodrick (Australia, June 13 1971) 5 boys, 4 girls. Two males stillborn, Richard (12 ozs) lived the longest at 6 days. None survived.
1972 - Unidentified (Pennsylvania, May 29 1972) none survived.
1976 - Unidentified (England, 1976) none survived
1977 - Unidentified (Bangladesh, May 11 1977) to a 30 year old mother, none survived.
1979 - Unidentified (Italy) (this may actually be the Chianese family who had octuplets).
1999 - Mat Saad (Malaysia, March 26 1999) Adam, Nuh, Idris, Soleh, Hud, Aishah (g), Khadijah (g), Fatimah (g) and Umi Kalsom (g), none survived more than 6 hours. She was told to expect sextuplets. Delivered at 21 weeks.
2002 - Unidentified (Sudan) She was pregnant with nonuplets, and 2 months in July 2002 in a Saudi Arabian hospital, but I heard nothing about the outcome.
2008 - Ali/Khamis (Egypt, August 16, 2008) 9 were conceived, 2 were lost in utero and 7 survive. See the Septuplets section for more information.

News reports in 1998 claimed Cristina Hernandez Nunez was expecting "up to nine" babies. She gave birth to sextuplets (see: Salinas/Hernandez in World Sextuplets)
 

Decaplets

1924 - Spain
1936 - China (May 12 1936)
1946 - Brazil (April 22 1946) 8 girls, 2 boys. No word in any survivors.  

Decaplets (ten babies) is the highest that have ever been born in history. While higher multiples have been conceived, only ten babies were carried long enough to be born.

Undecaplets

1996 - Efsthatiou (Cyprus, 1996) Mother was 23 at the time she conceived using fertility drugs. She elected to undergo selective reduction and reduce to 4. I am not sure of the outcome.

Duodecaplets

1736 - Unidentified (London, England) Reportedly conceived 9 girls and 3 boys.
1988 - Unidentified (Switzerland) miscarried 12 fetuses.
1992 - Sciortino de Allavatti (Argentina, May 1992) Mother was 24 when she lost 12 fetuses that were conceived spontaneously (without the help of fertility treatments). This is the highest number of multiples conceived spontaneously (naturally).

Quindecaplets

1971 - Unidentified (Italy, July 22 1971) 15 fetuses were removed from the mother's womb by Dr. Gennaro Montanino after 4 months of pregnancy. She had 10 girls and 5 boys, and fertility drugs were responsible for this case. The fetuses were five inches long and five ounces in weight. The woman and her husband already had an 8 year old daughter born after similar fertility drug treatments and had wished to have another child. This was the most multiples conceived by one woman at one time.
 

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