A woman defied odds of 70 million-to-one when she conceived and gave birth to quadruplets who are two sets of identical twins.
Hannah Carmack, 29, and her husband, Michael Carmack, 33, found out they were expecting in September 2022.
A month later, at their first scan, they were shocked when the sonographer revealed they were having quadruplets. And then the couple discovered something even more special—their quads were two sets of twins—something which has a 70 million-to-one chance of occurring.
Mrs. Carmack gave birth to the two pairs of identical twins—girls Evelyn (2 pounds, 11 ounces) and Adeline (1 pound, 10 ounces), and boys David and Daniel (both 2 pounds, 4 ounces)—at 27 weeks via a planned cesarean section on March 14 last year.
The quads were all home in Gadsden, Alabama, 96 days later and are said to be “thriving” with individual personalities.
“It was chaotic when we brought them home for the first time,” said Mrs. Carmack, a veterinary technician. “Luckily, I flew my stepmom out for two and a half months to help me adjust to them.
“They all slept and ate at the same time. They thrived off each other, if one would scream the other one would scream.
“The first time I saw them all home together I cried, I couldn’t believe it—they were a miracle.”
The couple were hoping for a second child, so when the first scan revealed they were having quads, Mrs. Carmack said she had a “panic attack.”
“I saw two placentas on the screen, and I asked if they were twins—but the sonographer wasn’t saying anything,” she said. "My husband put his hands on his head and started laughing while I was crying.
“I asked if it was triplets, and she still didn’t reply, she put her hand on my knee and said there were four. I asked if she was sure, and she said how there was definitely four babies there—you go through all the emotions.”
From the beginning, Mrs. Carmack was warned that it would be a miracle if she made it to 30 weeks. At 27 weeks, she was hospitalized at the University of Alabama Hospital and monitored closely. Doctors told her the goal was to get her to 28 weeks as the babies would be safer to deliver. She gave birth at 27 weeks.
“I get into the operating room and there was about 40 different people,” she said. “I had my doctors, and each baby had their own team.
“The doctors said that all the babies were doing good, and they had been intubated.”
Three days after giving birth, Mrs. Carmack went home and the quads left the hospital at different times.
Mrs. Carmack said: “Oh man, a lot of people prayed over our babies from the very beginning. They all had a 50 percent chance of survival—they had odds against them from the beginning.
“They are all doing great, Daniel is trying to walk now, they are crawling and eating table food. Their personalities are very different.
“David is mysterious; Evelyn is our adventure baby; Adeline keeps herself to herself; and Daniel is on the go all the time.
“They are all super sweet. The boys are obsessed with me, and the girls are drifting towards their father.”
The proud mom shares her quadruplets’ childhood on Instagram @carmackquads.
