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| (Last Updated--Dec. 21, 2001) The world's first set of surviving octuplets (six girls, two boys) was born to a Houston, Texas (USA) couple, Nkem Chukwu (29) and Iyke Louis Udobi (41), at 9:00 a.m. central time on December 20, 1998.
Each baby was delivered 13 weeks premature by Caeseran Section, with the exception of the oldest girl, Ebuka, who was delivered naturally on December 8, 15 weeks premature. The octuplets were born at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston and transported to Texas Children's Hospital, also in Houston, shortly after birth. The babies were given Ibo tribal names from the couple's native Nigerian heritage.
The eight babies weighed just over 10 combined pounds at birth showing just how dangerous a multiple birth of this magnitude can be. Despite top medical care, the smallest of the octuplets, Odera succombed to heart and lung failure on December 27, 1998 just a week after her birth. Little Odera weighed just 320 grams at birth, more than 25 percent smaller than any surviving baby (440 grams) in the history of the Texas Children's Hospital. After spending more than six weeks bed-ridden, the woman's mother, Nkem Chukwu, was released from the hospital on Wednesday, December 30. On March 3, 1999, three of the surviving seven children were discharged from the hospital as Ebuka, Echerem and Jioke were allowed to return to their parents home in Southwest Houston. They will be taken care of in the family's four bedroom home by Dr. Patti Savrick, a pediatrician who was chosen by the parents to monitor the growth and development of the babies. At the time of their release, Jioke weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, Echerem weighed 4 pounds, 7 ounces and Ebuka was 4 pounds. On April 8, 1999, Chidi and Chima joined their brothers and sisters at home and were discharged from Texas Children's Hospital. At the time of their release, Chidi weighed 6 pounds, 3.2 ounces, and Chima checked in at 6 pounds, 13.2 ounces. On April 26, 1999, the youngest of the babies, Gorom, was discharged from the hospital and allowed to join her brothers and sisters at home. At the time of her release, Gorom weighed 4 pounds, 10.0 ounces. Two months later on June 25, the last of the octuplets to remain in the hospital, the first-born boy, Ikem, was also released from Texas Children's Hospital, as all seven surviving babies were reunited. Ikem weighed 7 pounds, 12.0 ounces at the time of his release from the hospital. The Chukwu/Uwobi family moved into a new 5,200 square-foot home in League City, Texas in September, 1999 that was donated to them by the Fannie Mae Mortgage Company. The home has six bedrooms and is located on a cul-de-sac in a quiet neighborhood about 15 minutes from the hospital where the octuplets were born. On November 6, 1999, the seven remaining Chukwu Octuplets made their first public appearance at a church ceremony in southwest Houston. All seven 11-month-olds appeared to be thriving as the five girls were dressed identically in white dresses and frilly white laces while the two boys wore matching white suits. The parents also appeared to be doing well. A follow-up after their first birthday claimed that all seven living octuplets are weighing approximately 20 pounds apiece. The Houston Chronicle ran an update on the surviving Octuplets' 2nd birthday, again providing the good news that the children are all doing well and acting as any other normal two-year-old would. "The kids are doing great," said Dr. Patti Savrick, the children's pediatrician. "Their motor skills are good, and they're conversing with each other. In spite of being born prematurely, they've already caught up in size to other children their age. They are normal, healthy 2-year-olds." The Houston Chronicle also ran an update on the surviving Octuplets' 3rd birthday, which continues to stress how well the seven are doing. It also gave insight on part of their normal every-day routine.  Dec. 26, 1998 photo of parents at Texas Children's Hospital A fund for the family was also created at There are three other recorded examples of births of octuplets since 1985, but none unfortunately had all eight children survive the delivery. Rosario Clavijo of Huelva, Spain gave birth to octuplets on December 5, 1996 with six of the eight babies surviving (four boys, two girls). |