In 1997, Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey from Iowa, U.S., welcomed the world’s first surviving septuplets.
Born nine weeks early, their arrival made headlines worldwide. The couple received interview requests and even appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to celebrate their first birthday. Each baby got their own cake, and they even met former President Bill Clinton.
Raising seven newborns was no small task. The babies—Kenny Jr., Alexis, Natalie, Kelsey, Nathan, Brandon, and Joel—kept their parents busy.
According to reports, they went through an average of 52 diapers and 42 bottles of milk every day.
To help the family, donations poured in. They received a larger home, a van, diapers for two years, and full college scholarships to any state university in Iowa. But their parents still worked hard, growing their own vegetables to save money.
Two of the septuplets, Alexis and Nathan, were diagnosed with cerebral palsy and needed walkers. In 2005, Nathan had surgery to improve his mobility and later learned to walk without assistance.
After high school, each sibling took their own path.
Natalie, Kelsey, Nathan, and Joel accepted scholarships at Hannibal-LaGrange University in Missouri. Kenny and Alexis stayed closer to home and attended Des Moines Area Community College, while Brandon joined the U.S. Army.
For many of them, college was their first real taste of independence.
“Growing up, we were always together,” Kelsey said. “This gave us a chance to explore our own interests and careers.”
Their older sister Mikayla got married in 2015, making the septuplets aunts and uncles for the first time. In 2019, Natalie and Brandon also got married.
Today, they’re all focused on their future careers.
Natalie hopes to become an athletic trainer, while Alexis wants to work in an elementary school. She has also won beauty pageants for individuals with special needs.
Nathan and Joel studied computer information systems. Joel dreams of working in cybersecurity at Google, while Nathan enjoys building computers.
“We’re not just the septuplets,” Natalie said. “We’re each becoming our own person.”