Janet and Graham Walton of Liverpool, England wanted to start a family, but after several years of trying, pregnancy just wasn’t happening. Their next step was to go to a fertility clinic. The first dozen treatments didn’t work and just when they were about to give up, the 13th treatment turned out to be the lucky one, very lucky. The Waltons were incredibly happy and eagerly anticipated the arrival of their unborn child. When she was examined 8 weeks into her pregnancy, the doctors had some surprising news for Janet: she was on track to becoming the proud mother of six children!
Not long after, Janet was admitted to the hospital for the duration. Being pregnant with sextuplets comes with all sorts of risks and round-the-clock medical supervision is a must. All went well, although at 31 weeks, it was time for a Caesarean section. And so, on November 18, 1983, the world’s first sextuplets were born. By January, all six babies were ready to go home.
Raising one child is a lot of work, so just imagine that multiplied by six! Hannah, Ruth, Lucy, Kate, Jennie and Sarah went through 11,000 diapers in just one year. As Janet recalled, “We lived through those early years in a blur. And the only regret is that there wasn’t enough time to enjoy them as much as we’d have liked.” Raising the six girls was exhausting at times, but there was a lot of fun and a lot of laughter. Fortunately the girls all got along well!
Janet and Graham’s first grandchild was born in 2014. According to Janet, “I loved those early years so much. I couldn’t say one phase was better than the others. But there was always so much to do, we didn’t enjoy it as much as we would if we’d had one at a time. With grandchildren, you have time.”
Check out the documentary about this amazing family that’s posted below and let us know what you thought in the comments at Facebook. Don’t forget to like and share!
https://youtu.be/zGdKp-QgcX4
