Over a year and a half ago, a Malian family of three welcomed nine babies at once, which broke a world record.
As Blavity previously reported, Halima Cissé and Adjutant Kader Arby became the parents of five girls and four boys right before Mother’s Day in 2021. Their birth set the record for the most babies delivered at one time because they survived “for more than a few hours,” according to Guinness World Records.
According to People magazine, the pair is finally bringing their nine toddlers home after 19 months of medical care in Morocco, where they were born. The children stayed in a clinic to ensure they were healthy because they were all between about 1.1 to 2.2 pounds at birth, NPR reported at the time. Before leaving the care clinic, the family met with the Guinness World Records team to share their experience caring for many children.
In a short video clip posted by Guinness World Records, Cissé shared the names of her boys, Mohammed, Bah, Oumar and Elhadji, and girls, Hawa, Adama, Oumou, Kadidia and Fatouma.
Arby remarked having nine children was an unexpected blessing.
“We started with seven, and Allah blessed us with nine,” he said in the clip. “In the beginning, we didn’t have that information until we arrived here in Morocco. It’s during the surgery that we discovered that instead of seven, we were having nine babies.”
Dr. Rochdi Talib, who worked with Cissé during her cesarean section delivery, said in the video that he is “extremely proud” of his staff consisting of 32 medical professionals.
“We had to treat the mom before it was too late to make sure there was no postpartum hemorrhage,” Talib said. “Thank God we had the technical and highly qualified resources and medical and paramedical staff.”
Before conceiving the nonuplets, the couple already had a daughter. They shared how caring for one child doesn’t compare to caring for nine simultaneously.
“Having one baby and taking care of them is already a lot. And having nine babies requires a lot of attention,” Arby shared.
The mother of 10 concurred.
“It’s not easy to put them to sleep all together,” she said. “We cuddle them so they can sleep. They really like cuddles to sleep.”
Cissé said they are very thankful for the medical corps and nurses “who accompanied us morning, noon and evening continuously.”
Arby expressed excitement about setting a worldwide record.
“We are proud, it’s something exceptional,” he told Guinness World Records. “The family is known worldwide, it’s a great thing.”
