A mother set a world record by having nine children

 

A mother set a world record by having nine children. Her stomach weighed 65 pounds during pregnancy

A 26-year-old mother from Mali is speaking openly about her record-breaking family more than two months after her nine children were in a hospital in Morocco. The woman, who also has a two-year-old daughter, said the non-twin pregnancy took place without assistance.

Halima Cisse and her husband, Kader Arabi, 35, received the surprise of a lifetime when they learned they were expecting high-level complications, entirely naturally.

At first, the couple was told they had seven children, and doctors warned that the chance of all the children surviving was less than 50%. Cissy went to Morocco to get better medical care, and it was there, minutes before giving birth on May 5, that she found out she was carrying nine children.

 I was choked when I knew that I had nine children because I thought they were going to be seven," she told the Daily Mail.

A representative of Guinness World Records told NPR that they had not officially verified the record and that "the well-being of both mother and infant is a top priority." The previous record was held by Nadia Suleiman, aka "Octomom," who gave birth to eight children in 2009.

The care of both children and mothers was so complicated that it required them to move to Morocco.

 Sisi was entered to the hospital at 25 weeks of pregnancy, and the medical team looking after her was able to delay the birth of her babies until 30 weeks. Ten doctors and 25 paramedics participated in the delivery of premature babies.

The non-obstetric group includes four brothers (Muhammad, Bah, Al-Hajji, and Omar) and five sisters (Eve, Adama, Fatuma, Omo, Kadidi). They join their older sister, Soda, who is two years old.

According to the Daily Mail, Cissy said she is still recovering from the pregnancy and the difficulty of giving birth. Her stomach alone weighed about 65 pounds, and the cesarean delivery was complicated, with so much blood loss-making her weak. The babies, who weigh between 1 and 2 pounds at birth, are still in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Right now, Sissy has all the help you need in a team of 35 caregivers. The Mali government is paying the family care bill, which is estimated to cost more than $1 million.

The couple owns a three-bedroom house in Timbuktu, Mali. Arby works as a sailor in the Financial Navy. The logistics of being a father of ten kids is daunting, but for now, Arby said he's focusing on his wife and nine family members for a good deal.

"There's a lot of things to work on about the future, but right now, we're just focused on taking care of our kids and getting them home," he told the Daily Mail. "The biggest concern for me is not the size of my house, the number of rooms we have, or money, but making sure my wife and children are okay."