The Harris sextuplets: one year later

Ebony, Oct, 2003 by Nikitta A. Foston

CHRIS HARRIS was in shock. His wife Diamond was stunned. The young couple who had been trying so hard to have a baby had succeeded, and succeeded, and succeeded, and succeeded, and succeeded.

Not only was Diamond Harris pregnant, she was carrying quintuplets--five babies at once.

"When I learned that we were going to have five babies, the first thing that came to my mind was 'Wow,'" recalls 29-year-old Chris Harris of the news he learned during his wife's first trimester. "And my second question was, 'Are you sure?' But the nurse who was reading the sonogram said, 'Yes ... I'm counting them.'"

But she didn't count them all.

On July 7, 2002, after six months of pregnancy, a weeklong labor process and five deliveries, doctors identified an additional baby in the womb, bringing the couple's grand total to six. With the assistance of a 30-member team of doctors, led by Dr. John Hauth of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Harrises introduced their sextuplets--Kiera, Kalynne, Kaleb, Kobe, Kieran and Kyle--to the world, and to their older brother and biggest fan, Dewayne.

Unlike many multiple births, the Harris sextuplets arrived without loss, injury or deformity "You don't normally find six babies who are born healthy, with no medical conditions, no deformities and no abnormalities," says the grateful mother. At exactly 26.5 weeks pregnant, the expectant mother, who had taken hormone shots to produce more eggs, gave birth to the first sextuplets from Alabama--two girls and four boys, ranging in weight from 12 ounces to 1.4 pounds.

Since then, Diamond Harris, a 28-year-old nursing student, and Chris Harris, an elementary school teacher, have lived by the number 6--six babies, six bottles, six diapers, six strollers, six high chairs, six cribs and six little voices demanding to be heard. Of the three bedrooms in their Birmingham home, the Harrises turned one into a nursery for the two girls, one into a nursery for the four boys and reserved the third for their oldest son, Dewayne. The Harrises moved their bedroom to the basement, converted their family room into a playroom and turned their living room into a bathing center, using a large portable tub to bathe the six new babies.

"We really work well together," says the father of the sextuplets. "Usually, they wake up about 8 a.m. and I take three babies, my wife takes three babies and we go from there," he says, describing their bathing, feeding and dressing routines. "My wife and I each take three sets of [diapers] and three sets of clothes; we bathe them one-by-one, lie them down on blankets, and dress them. Then, when it's time to eat, we each take three babies, line them up in their high chairs and we go down the line, one baby at a time."

Keeping up with the energy level of six new babies isn't an easy task, but the mother of the six-member infant group relies on the support of her family while her husband is teaching third-graders at Barrett Elementary School. "We have a lot of family support and that makes it a lot easier," says Diamond Harris. "My mother-in-law and sister live around the corner, and my mother lives two hours away, but she comes here every other weekend to help."

Despite the support, the road traveled was a difficult one for the Harris family. The expectant mother was hospitalized five out of the six months that she was pregnant. She was restricted to complete bed rest due to dehydration and blood clotting, and she developed a pulmonary embolism, which is often fatal during pregnancy. But the young and determined mother, unwilling to give up, maintained her faith and optimism and made a full recovery. Thankfully, she says, she is healthy and strong today, with six babies following close behind.

The new members of the Harris family, who are crawling, standing and beginning to say small words, are eager and excited when their father comes home from work. Tugging at his ankles, they greet him with smiles and laughs as he picks them up, sometimes two at a time, before immediately beginning to change diapers, read stories and start "activity time." "At 6 p.m., we bring out all the toys, the jumpers, the bouncers, the games and all the stuff to wear them out," says the young father. "So by 8:30, they have settled down and are on their way to sleep. After they're asleep, it's time for me to grade papers, make phone calls to parents, or if my wife has class the following day, I read her nursing lesson to her."

Although Chris and Diamond have adjusted their lifestyle to accommodate their extended family, meeting their financial needs has become a constant struggle. With Diamond Harris, a licensed practical nurse, now in school full-time, the couple is operating solely on Chris Harris' $30,000 salary as a schoolteacher. As a result, they almost lost their home last year after falling behind on the mortgage payments.

Despite volunteer help from the community and donations from Wal-Mart, Target, Bruno's (a local grocery store) and the use of a pre-owned van from a local dealership, the reaction to the Harris sextuplets stands in stark contrast to the highly publicized White Iowa septuplets. In addition to a phone call from former President Bill Clinton and an invitation to the White House, the McCaughey family received an offer by Iowa's governor to build a new home, the donation of a new 12-seat Chevrolet van, cover stories in Time and Newsweek magazines, and free advertising in major newspapers for their family assistance fund. "The intense attention the McCaughey septuplets received...," says syndicated columnist, Sara Eckel, "the nightly updates on their progress, the outpouring of generosity from corporate America, says a lot about the two-tiered nature of American compassion."