First surviving septuplets turn 16, enjoy lives
23 Nov 2013 4:44 AM IST
The McCaughey siblings, who live in Carlisle in central Iowa, gained international fame for their births in 1997. They were on the cover of national magazines and featured on network television shows.
The seven children - Kenny, Kelsey, Natalie, Brandon, Alexis, Nathan and Joel - celebrated their 16th birthday on Tuesday, and the family told The Des Moines Register, it’s nice to live a more normal life.
‘It was kinda cool, but in other ways I never liked it, all these cameras following you around everywhere,’ said Nathan McCaughey, one of seven high school sophomores in the family.
More important matters in the household - which includes older sister Mikayla, 18 - are driving privileges, track meets and band practice.
‘It’s quiet in some ways. The kids are growing up right before your eyes,’ said father Kenny McCaughey, who works at a metal coating plant. Budgeting is important in their seven-bedroom house, which was donated along with a huge van. Kenny McCaughey and his wife, Bobbi, are paying for Mikayla’s college education, as well as braces for several teens. They are also monitoring the medical needs of Alexis and Nathan, born with forms of cerebral palsy, though both are doing well. ‘The biggest challenge is making sure they keep up with certain things but not keep up with certain things, trendy things,’ Kenny McCaughey said. ‘Three of them have cellphones and a couple have iPads. But even I’m on a pay-as-you-go phone plan.’ Bobbi McCaughey, the children’s mother and a paraeducator, said she’s enjoyed being able to have conversations with their children now that they’re older.
The seven children - Kenny, Kelsey, Natalie, Brandon, Alexis, Nathan and Joel - celebrated their 16th birthday on Tuesday, and the family told The Des Moines Register, it’s nice to live a more normal life.
‘It was kinda cool, but in other ways I never liked it, all these cameras following you around everywhere,’ said Nathan McCaughey, one of seven high school sophomores in the family.
More important matters in the household - which includes older sister Mikayla, 18 - are driving privileges, track meets and band practice.
‘It’s quiet in some ways. The kids are growing up right before your eyes,’ said father Kenny McCaughey, who works at a metal coating plant. Budgeting is important in their seven-bedroom house, which was donated along with a huge van. Kenny McCaughey and his wife, Bobbi, are paying for Mikayla’s college education, as well as braces for several teens. They are also monitoring the medical needs of Alexis and Nathan, born with forms of cerebral palsy, though both are doing well. ‘The biggest challenge is making sure they keep up with certain things but not keep up with certain things, trendy things,’ Kenny McCaughey said. ‘Three of them have cellphones and a couple have iPads. But even I’m on a pay-as-you-go phone plan.’ Bobbi McCaughey, the children’s mother and a paraeducator, said she’s enjoyed being able to have conversations with their children now that they’re older.
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