Mississippi couple welcomes rare set of quintuplets including four identical girls

The pair welcomed their five children earlier this month

A couple based in Mississippi recently welcomed a rare set of quintuplets, which included four identical girls.

Haylee and Shawn Ladner welcomed their five children on 16 February at Wiser Hospital for Women and Infants at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC).

As noted by UMMC, all babies were delivered by Caesarean section, with Haylee’s first daughter, Adalyn Elizabeth, born at 9:19am. She then welcomed Adalyn’s three sisters: Everleigh Rose at 9:20 am, Malley Kate at 9:21am, and Magnolia Mae at 9:22 am. At 9:23 am, the four girls were joined by their brother, Jake Easton.

Dr Rachael Morris, an associate professor of maternal foetal medicine who delivered Haylee’s babies, said this pregnancy was “quite rare”.

“She had a quintuplet pregnancy with four identical females. Reports of spontaneous quintuplets vary but are about 1 in 60 million,” she explained during a press conference, per WJTV. “There are very few reports of identical quadruplets in the literature to date. Reported incidence is 1 in 10 to 15 million pregnancies. There is only one other report of this combination in the literature from 2018.”

Before welcoming their five children, the couple struggled with conceiving a child and Haylee had experienced a miscarriage. The pair then tried intrauterine insemination, a procedure done to treat infertility.

During that process, one of the fertilised eggs divided in four ways which resulted in identical quadruplet girls and one boy, according to UMMC’s report.

Dr Morris recounted how Haylee was first admitted to the hospital on 11 January so doctors could pay close attention to the pregnancy. There was a “labour and delivery room for use” along with a care team that included 30 specialists in neonatology and neonatal nursing.

Dr. Mobolaji Famuyide, chief of the Division of Newborn Medicine, also recalled in UMMC’s report what preparation her team did before the birth.

“A daily schedule was in place for the entire duration of her stay in the hospital, and team members were willing and happy to be called in even if this happened at 2 a.m.,” she said. “There were five warmers and two rooms ready for the babies, and several neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners, fellows, nurses and respiratory therapists ready every day. We were ready for weeks for this birth.”

When the time came for Haylee to decide who was going to deliver her baby, she said that a friend told her about Dr Morris.

“The OBGYN nurse called me in a few days and set up an appointment for us to see her,” she said. “It has been the best decision we have ever made. She’s absolutely wonderful, and we adore her.”

Shawn agreed with the sentiment and expressed how he and his spouse couldn’t be more “pleased” about connecting with Morris.

“All our concerns, all our worries we’ve had about the delivery, she acknowledged them and explained how they would care for those issues,” he said, per UMMC. “We’ve felt like we’ve been cared for the best we possibly could be.”

Speaking with WAPT at the press conference, Haylee opened up about her fertility treatments and referred to her children as her “miracle babies”.

“I didn’t think I would ever get the chance to be a mother of even one baby, so now that I am getting to be a mother to five” she said.

Shawn also explained their “shock” when discovering that they were having five children, recalling: “The doctor said, ‘I never seen this before.’ That is something you don’t want them to say, and he went to explain that instead of it being twins like we thought, it was a possibility that we were having five.”

During the press conference, Haylee shared an update about her babies now: “They’re thriving, and we’re looking forward to the day when they can come home. They are the greatest blessing of my entire life.”

The Independent has contacted Haylee and Shawn for comment.