Nowadays, we see lots of cases of multiple pregnancies on social media and television. It’s so common that they’re no longer surprising. However, this wasn’t the case in the 80s, when the first all-female set of sextuplets was born.
The Walton sextuplet girls were born on 18th November 1983 in Liverpool, England. The mother, Janet Walton, gave birth via cesarean section and called them Ruth, Sarah, Kate, Hanna, Jennie, and Lucy. It was the first all-female sextuplet birth in the world.
There had previously been multiple births of six babies, but all had been either all male or a mix of both boys and girls. There had never before been an all-girl sextuplet birth.
The sextuplets were born healthily at 31 weeks although a couple of them did have to spend some time in an incubator since their lungs still hadn’t finished developing.
For several years after their birth, the world was fascinated and the media glare was always upon them.
But more than 30 years later and the publicity has died down. So what are they up to now? Take a look at these extraordinary sisters in the video below.
There have been many important moments in their lives when the press showed up: their first birthday; their first day at school; their 18th, their 21st, and their 30th birthdays.
But, through it all their parents have ensured they kept their feet firmly on the ground, not dressing them the same and encouraging Hannah, Ruth, Luci, Kate, Jennie, and Sarah’s different personalities to shine.
Dad Graham, who took time off work in the beginning to help, said one of the hardest tasks, as they got older, was parents’ evening at the girls’ school!
Today all of the girls have left home, apart from Hannah, but still, live near their parents. And one sister Sarah produced the Waltons first grandchild a daughter (of course) called Jorgie.
According to AWM, here’s an outline of what they have achieved:
- Hannah has earned multiple degrees and worked as a schoolteacher.
- Kate holds down a career in human resources.
- Luci is part of the crew on a major airline.
- Jennie owns a sweet shop.
- Ruth is engaged and has a job at a call center.
- The youngest, Sarah, has a job at a medical center and gave birth to the first grandbaby in the family, Jorgie, on October 7, 2014.
I cannot imagine how hard it must have been raising six babies at the same time, but Janet and Graham should be so proud of what they achieved. These girls have grown into wonderful women.
See more of this family’s incredible journey in the video below:
Source: AWM