The Australian mother who made headlines after naturally conceiving and giving birth to healthy quintuplets in January has released the first professional shots of the babies, and her family is fundraising to purchase a van so they may travel together.
Images posted on Kimberly Tucci’s Facebook blog “Surprised by Five” include pictures of the babies Tiffany, Penelope, Beatrix, Allie and Keith in a basket, snuggled in multi-colored blankets while cuddling with their mother, and lying together against a gray carpet.
Tucci’s grandmother, Denise Waddell, set up a GoFundMe page less than a month ago to raise money for a van so the family would no longer have to travel in three separate cars. As of Tuesday morning, it had raised nearly $33,000 of its $40,000 goal.
Erin Hoskins, of Erin Elizabeth Photography, took Tucci’s maternity photos, which were set on a western Australian beach and went viral in January. In the snapshots, Tucci dons neutral-colored, flowing gowns as she stands in the sand with waves crashing nearby, while touching her pregnant belly.
Throughout her pregnancy, Tucci blogged on Facebook. She gave birth to her babies Jan. 28, 2015, just shy of 30 weeks.
“I was very lucky to have an amazing medical team supporting me,” she wrote on Facebook on Jan. 29, 2015. “Thank you for giving me an exceptional birth!”
She and her husband, Vaughn, share two daughters and live in Warnbro, Australia. They had been trying for a third child, a boy, when they learned they had conceived five children: four girls and one boy. They have told media they did not use IVF, which can increase the chances of multiple births. Doctors estimate naturally conceiving quintuplets— that is, without IVF or fertility drugs— happens only about one in 55 million times.
Wadell wrote on GoFundMe that Tucci and her husband are “desperate for any financial assistance,” as they must rent the home they own because they can’t afford to buy one, and that they are aiming to buy an LDV G10, the cheapest car in Australia that’s big enough to fit their family.
“The reality is they are a long way from being in a position to buy this car and pay for the extra child seat anchor points that will need to be fitted,” she wrote on GoFundMe. “The family will be eternally grateful for any support you can give them.”