What is the world record for most kids?
Bristol triplets set Guinness World Records for most premature birth and lightest combined weight
Rubi-Rose, Payton Jane and Porscha-Mae Hopkins were born on 14 February 2021 with a total weight of 1,284g (2lbs and 13oz).
Monday 27 March 2023 22:07, UK
Triplets born at just 22 weeks and five days have been awarded two Guinness World Records.
Rubi-Rose, Payton Jane and Porscha-Mae Hopkins were born on 14 February 2021 with a total weight of 1,284g (2lbs and 13oz).
One of their world records is for the lightest total weight for triplets, while the other is for being the most premature triplets ever recorded.
Rubi-Rose was born first at 10.21am at just 467g (1lb), while Payton Jane and Porscha-Mae were born nearly two hours later at 12.01pm and 12.02pm respectively by caesarean section. They weighed only 402g (0.89lbs) and 415g (0.91lbs).
Their 32-year-old mother, Michaela White from Bristol, said the two years since their birth has been «stressful» for her and her partner Jason Hopkins, 36.
«It was very, very stressful in the first year that [the triplets] were here,» Ms White said in a video by Guinness World Records.
Mr Hopkins said the journey has been «mental».
«The whole journey between finding out that there were triplets and then triplets actually being here was, I think, the quickest pregnancy I’ve ever known. It was mad,» he said.
‘Quite traumatic’ birth
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Ms White said «the day of the birth was quite traumatic» after being moved from St Michael’s Hospital in Bristol to Southmead, where she went into labour.
«I didn’t see any of [the triplets] when they were born.»
All three babies were rushed into incubators and swaddled in polythene wrapping to act as their mother’s womb and regulate their body temperature.
The first 72 hours of the babies’ lives were the most critical, with each required to breathe independently for 10 seconds before the doctors could intervene with oxygen.
Each child was taken into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and remained there for 216 days.
«The NICU journey on its own, any parent who has been through it, whether it’s been two days or, as we were 216 days, it’s one of the hardest journeys you’ll go through,» Mr Hopkins said.
Caring for disabled children ‘very, very hard’
The triplets were born with cerebral palsy.
Rubi-Rose has a mild form of the disorder while Payton Jane and Porscha-Mae have mobility issues and are tube-fed.
Ms White said the process of caring for disabled children is «very, very hard».
«It can be quite challenging at times with all the appointments, the people coming in your house and doing physio with the girls on a day-to-day basis,» she said.
«It can be really challenging for anyone with disabled children, but me and my partner, Jay, just crack on and do what we need to for them.»
The couple have used social media to document their journey, earning them more than 10,000 followers on TikTok as @hopkinstribe.
Twins World Records
Twins and multiples are amazing, here we have selected just some of the official world records as of 2015! See the complete list here.
Most consecutive generations
Three families hold this record: Within the Rollings family (UK) there have been four consecutive generations of twins born from 1916- 2002. The first were Elizabeth and Olga Rollings (b. 3 December 1916) born to George and Jayne Rollings. The second generation saw Margaret and Maureen Hammond (b. 20 July 1950) born to William and Gwendoline Hammond (neé Rollings) – both were nieces to Elizabeth and Olga Rollings. The third generation twins were Fay and Fiona O’Connor (b. 26 February 1977) born to Terrence and Kathleen O’Connor (nee Hammond) – both were nieces to Margaret and Maureen; and finally on 12 January 2002, Kacie and Jessica Fawcett were born to Darren and Lucy Fawcett (O’Connor) – nieces to Fay and Fiona.
Within the Taylor family (USA) there have been four consecutive generations of twins born from 1919 – 2002. The first were Gail and Dale Ritchie Taylor (b. 19 October 1919) to Jedidiah and Margaret (neé Ritchie) Taylor. The second generation saw Janet and Joyce Taylor (b. 5 February 1955) to Gail and Jean (neé Carpenter) Taylor. The third generation twins were Debra and Daniel Haroldsen (b.4 September 1981) to Brian and Janet (nee Taylor) Haroldson and finally on 19 May 2002, Nathan and Alexander Bartholoma were born to Christopher and Debra (neé Haroldsen) Bartholoma.
Within the Sims family (UK) there have been four consecutive generations of twins born from 1931 – 2013. The first were Margaret and Joyce Sims (b. 03 April 1931) to Sidney and Cicely (neé Bridger) Sims. The second generation saw Keith and Kevin Garrad (b. 22 June 1953) to Kenneth and Joyce (neé Sims) Garrad. The third generation twins were Melanie and Sherrill Garrad (b. 15 May 1978) to Kevin and Karen (neé Gray) Garrad and finally on 13 November 2013, Clara and Jessica Gwynne were born to Christopher and Melanie (neé Garrad) Gwynne.
Most Twins in a Class
The most sets of twins in the same academic year at one school is 24 pairs, who are all enrolled in grade 5 at Highcrest Middle School, Illinois, USA, in the academic year 2012-2013.
Longest Seperated Twins
The longest separated twins are Elizabeth Ann Hamel (née Lamb, USA) and Ann Patricia Hunt (née Wilson, UK) born on 28 February 1936 in Aldershot, UK. Elizabeth and Ann were reunited in Fullerton, California, USA on 1 May 2014 after 77 years and 289 days of separation. The twins Ann Patricia Hunt and Elizabeth Hamel were born to unmarried mother Alice Lamb in Aldershot, Hampshire, UK, on 28 Feb 1936. A decision was made to separate the twins for adoption, and Ann grew up unaware of her sister Elizabeth, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Most sets of Twins
The first wife (died ante 1770), of Feodor Vassilyev (b. 1707–c.1782), a peasant from Shuya, Russia, gave birth to 16 sets of twins.
Barbara Zulu of Barberton, South Africa bore 3 sets of girls and 3 mixed sets in seven years (1967–73).
Anna Steynvaait of Johannesburg, South Africa produced 2 sets within 10 months in 1960.
Heaviest Triplets
The heaviest triplets weighed 10.9 kg (24 lb) and were born to Mary McDermott (UK) on 18 November 1914.
South African Woman Claims She Gave Birth To 10 Babies At Once, Breaking World Record
Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, initially thought she was going to have eight babies
A woman in South Africa claims she gave birth to 10 babies at once (Representative Image)
A woman from South Africa has reportedly given birth to 10 babies at once, breaking the Guinness World Record held by Malian Halima Cisse — who gave birth to nine children in Morocco last month.
Gosiame Thamara Sithole, 37, initially thought she was going to have eight babies, according to the New York Post. But when she gave birth on Monday night, Ms Sithole and her family were surprised to see 10 babies emerge — two more than previous scans had showed.
«It’s seven boys and three girls. She was seven months and seven days pregnant. I am happy. I am emotional,» her husband, Teboho Tsotetsi, told the Pretoria News after the birth of the decuplets.
Ms Sithole, from Gauteng, said that her pregnancy was natural and she did not undergo any fertility treatments. She already has six-year-old twins.
Gosiame Thamara Sithole gave birth to 10 babies (she & her doctors thought she was expecting 6… then 8…).
The 37-year-old is now the mother of 12 (the decuplets join their 6-year old twin siblings)
She is now in the Guinness World Book of Records.
https://t.co/N7PKXQUDUJ
— Ottilia Anna MaSibanda (@MaS1banda) June 8, 2021
«I am shocked by my pregnancy,» Ms Sithole had told Pretoria News last month, when she still believed she was about to have octuplets. «I was convinced that if it was more, it would be twins or triplets, not more than that. When the doctor told me, I took time to believe it,» she said.
The retail store manager said she had sleepless nights worrying about her unborn children. «How would they fit in the womb? Would they survive? What if they came out conjoined at the head, in the stomachs or hands?» she said. «I asked myself all these questions until the doctor assured me that my womb was starting to expand inside. God made a miracle and my children stayed in the womb without any complications.»
EXCLUSIVE: A Gauteng woman has given birth to 10 babies, breaking the Guinness World Record held by Malian Halima Cissé who gave birth to nine children in Morocco last month.https://t.co/YwXvpbpP6p
— IOL News (@IOL) June 8, 2021
If confirmed, Gosiame Thamara Sithole’s 10-child delivery will be the first-known case of decuplets.
A representative for Guinness World Records told New York Post that the organisation is looking into the matter.
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«Guinness World Records is aware of the news that Gosiame Thamara Sithole has given birth to decuplets, and we send our congratulations and best wishes to the family,» a spokesperson for the records listing saidTuesday. «At the current time, we are yet to verify this as a record as the wellbeing of both the mother and babies is of top priority.»
«Our records team alongside a specialist consultant are looking into this,» the spokesperson said.
