Egyptian mother gives birth to seven babies

Umm..Wow!!
Seven babies at one time...and only 6 weeks early.

A 27 year-old mother of three has given birth to septuplets in a hospital in Egypt.

Local doctors have described the birth of four boys and 3 girls, without the use of any fertility treatment, as a 'miracle.'

According to Egypt's MENA newsagency, Ghazala Khamis, of the northern province of Beheir, gave birth by caesarean section, six weeks before the due date.

'It's really a miracle, the mother had taken no stimulants during ovulation,' Ahmed Salam, the gynecologist heading up the delivery team, said.

The seven babies weighed between two and 3 kilograms each.

Egyptian mother gives birth to seven babies

What is this a sign of things to come? I know this isn't a pollution factor, Egypt isn't that bad off with pollution. Definitely a rare case of super sperm.

Having had multiples myself, I'm gonna call hoax on this one...

Reason number one, the weight of the babies: 2-3 kilos each equals out to 4 1/2 to 3 2/3 pounds each. So that means the woman had between 15 1/2 and 25 pounds of baby in her womb, plus about 7 pounds of placenta! There is a space limit to the human womb: Most woman won't carry more than 10 or 12 pounds of baby (There are some extreme cases of 15 or 20 pound babies but these are typically diabetic mothers--it is not normal and actually can threaten mom's life.). If she is carrying multiples, she won't end up with 2 or more normal-sized babies, they will be proportionatly smaller to meet that 10-pound limit. Twins normally weigh 5.5 pounds, triplets about 3.5, the more babies, the lesser the weight.

There is also a space limit so deliveries with multiples tend to be early. To compare, Quads normally deliver at about 28 weeks, so my suspicions are aroused when it says she delivered septuplets at 34 weeks (normal is 40.)

And the chances of having septuplets without drugs or fertility is about 0. So I call hoax.


Edit for spelling.


[edit on 17-8-2008 by asmeone2]

It is an amzing feat yes, but I not so ready to write it off as hoax just yet.
The human body can do some incredible things.
I am alittle dubious about not taking fertility drugs, but it is still possible.
Size and birth date are not set. They all depend on the mothers abilty to carry them. I have not seen a pic, but if he was a largish woman she could carry them. I have seen cases of triplets and even quads at close to full term.
The size of the babies also depends on if they have thier own placenta or if they share. If they share they would more than likely be smaller.