World’s Only Nonuplets Return Home After First 19 Months in Morocco

A Malian mother, whose nine babies broke the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered in a single birth to survive, returns home with her bundles of joy after spending the first 19 months of their lives in Morocco.

On Tuesday morning, Halima Cissé, 27, and the father of the children, Abdelkader Arby, returned to the Malian capital, Bamako, BBC reported. Before the highly anticipated homecoming, the family had been living in Casablanca, Morocco with special medical care and financial assistance.

Back in May 2021, Cissé was flown to Casablanca under government orders and had a Caesarean at 30 weeks. Five girls and four boys were delivered, which turned out to be two more than she expected, according to a previous BLACK ENTERPRISE report. It was at a clinic in Casablanca where the nine babies were first detected.

At the time of birth, the girls, Kadidia, Fatouma, Hawa, Adama and Oumou, and boys, Mohammed VI, Oumar, Elhadji and Bah, weighed between 1.1lb and 2.2lb.

The premature birth sparked health risk concerns, so the babies spent the first months of their lives in the hospital. Later, with the help of the Malian government, Cissé, Arby, and their new family were moved into an apartment where they received consistent care from the Ain Borja clinic.

“It’s a lot of work but Allah, who gave us this blessing, will help us in their upbringing and taking care of them,” Arby said, per BBC.

Earlier this year, Cissé and Arby not only celebrated their babies’ first birthday but their unique personalities as well.

“They all have different characters,” Arby said. “Some are quiet, while other make more noise and cry a lot. Some want to be picked up all the time. They are all very different, which is entirely normal.”

Now that they’re all home, the record-breaking babies have built a reputation for their miraculous birth and the people of Mali were very excited to see them.