Woman Gives Birth to Quadruplets After Years of Infertility

Taking care of one baby is hard enough--imagine four. But that's exactly the situation that Hannah and Ted Fair of Denver, Colorado found themselves in. Hannah delivered four babies, Harry, Mary Catherine, Francis Kay, and Helen Bennett on January 28th at Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center. The four may have come as a surprise, but it wasn't an unwelcome one. The couple had gone through two In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) cycles and six Intrauterine Insemination Treatments (IUI) over five years. They were actively considering adoption when the last IUI took and Hannah became pregnant. Hannah spent the last six weeks before giving birth on bedrest, and that gave her plenty of time to bond with the staff and other expecting moms. One of the doctors was the Director of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Presbyterian St. Luke's, Dr. Richard Porecco. He wasn't perturbed by Hannah's case at all, and said, "She was my 24th set of quadruplets and I've had three sets of quintuplets." The only thing he was worried about was Hannah giving birth early, which can be a problem for those expecting multiple children. Mothers expecting quadruplets often only reach 28 or 29 weeks instead of the full term of 40. "Fundamentally, it's a question of trying to extend the pregnancy for as long as we reasonably can that's safe for both the mom and babies," he said. Hannah and Ted are excited to start living with their new family once they are all healthy, and are in the middle of moving closer to both sets of grandparents. On top of that, they're considering a live-in nanny or Au Pair to help them take care of all of their kids!