Party of Nine: Life with the
Hanselman Sextuplets

by Sharon Schnall

The moniker "party of nine" is what author, columnist and mother Jennifer Hanselman, 33, uses to describe her Cuyahoga Falls family. Start with Jennifer, husband Keith and son Connor, now 5. Add one set of 3-year-old sextuplets, and the "party" is under way. The Hanselman sextuplets – Kyle, Alex, Logan, Sophia, Isabella and Lucy - were the first sextuplets born in Ohio.

Four months after their birth, Hanselman approached the Akron Beacon Journal with a pitch to write a monthly column about her family for the daily newspaper. The first two years of those columns, along with many family photographs, have been compiled in the book Party of Nine: The Triumphs and Traumas of Raising Sextuplets + One (Saddle Point Publishing: 2006.)

Hanselman spoke with Family magazines about limited information for prospective parents of higher-order multiples (defined as triplets or higher), coexisting with media and community scrutiny, and the importance of accepting help. To learn about the Hanselman family, visit www.partyofninebook.com.

Q: What do you tell prospective parents of higher-order multiples?

A: I try to tell them, that we are definitely not normal; our happy ending is definitely not the typical ending. I try not to give them false hopes that all their kids will turn out to be as healthy and well-adjusted as ours, because that doesn’t happen all the time. At the same time, I try to be as supportive as possible. I remember how scary it was to be in that situation, not to know: what to do, where to turn, what’s going to happen.

Q: Has the availability of information about higher-order multiples changed?

A: There are a lot of support groups for moms of twins, triplets and higher. The "and highers" of us still would like a little more information, a little more help.

Q: Do your children have any special medical needs?

A: They are miracles because all the literature and all the statistics said there was a very, very small chance of all six of them being born without some kind of serious defects or even me having some kind of serious problem afterward. I just credit the power of prayer. They are all extremely healthy and have had nothing other than the typical childhood ailments.

Q: What adjustments has Connor had to make as the older brother to sextuplets?

A: As far as he knows, everybody has a ton of brothers and sisters. He was just barely 2 when they were born, so for him this is normal. He thinks he is cool that he gets to be on TV a lot.

Q: What is it like to live with ongoing media attention and public scrutiny?

A: We’re always very aware that, when we’re in public, people are watching us and watching to see what we will do; you know, disciplining our kids, how our kids look and how we look. We’re always trying to be as patient and polite as possible.

Q: What limits do you convey regarding your family’s privacy?

A: We are very, very protective of our children. We would not let anybody do anything to put them in jeopardy or sacrifice their happiness or well-being. As open as we are about our kids, we are always on the lookout for making sure they are as safe as possible, trying to keep their childhood as normal as possible.

Q: How has your husband evolved as the father of seven children?

A: My husband is such a big kid. It’s good that he has that sense of humor because he needed it a lot since the kids were born. Before the kids were born, he was a good dad, a good provider, a fun guy. He’s really still the same, but he has a lot more of a sense of a responsibility because now he is the sole provider for the family.

Q: You received some negative reaction after writing columns about dirty diapers, throwing up and other body fluids. How do you explain the importance of this material?

A: Some days, all we did was change dirty diapers and clean up messes. To pretend that that part of our life doesn’t exist, I thought, was almost an untruth. I try not to be gross about it, but there are some things you cannot avoid. I try to show that even the worst things you can deal with with a sense of humor.

Q: Your columns are not sanitized. For example, you mention saying the word "crap" in hearing range of your children.

A: I just tried to be true to my voice. I didn’t want to make myself sound more like a saint or less like a saint. I just wanted to be me.

Q: Is there a question that you raise for prospective parents of higher-order multiples that they overlook asking?

A: The thing that they rarely ask (about) is how important it is to have some kind of support system before the kids are born, like joining a church or having a group that you belong to, or rallying your family, your friends around you. Just get as much support as possible, as much details arranged, before the kids are born.

Q: What advice do you give to people not used to asking for help?

A: If someone offers to help, get out your calendar and pick a day for them to help. Otherwise, you’ll both forget about it, and it will just be one of those nice gestures that go by the wayside. It makes people feel good to help, and it also makes you feel good that you can share.

Sharon Schnall is a Northeast Ohio writer. She has written author profiles and book features for past issues of Family magazine. Sharon can be reached at schnallwriting@yahoo.com.