Chukwu Octuplets

About Chukwu Octuplets

The Chukwu Octuplets were the first set of octuplets born in the United States. The six girls and two boys were born during the month of December 1998 at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas. Their parents — mother, Nkem Chukwu, then 27, and father, Iyke Louis Udobi, then 41 — were both Nigerian-born American citizens. As both parents were of Igbo ancestry, the babies were named according to Igbo tradition, as follows:

The octuplets were conceived with the aid of fertility medication. The first born, Ebuka, was delivered on December 8, 15 weeks premature. The remainder were born by Caesarean section on December 20, 13 weeks premature. The smallest of the octuplets, Odera, died on December 27, a week after birth.