Few Answering Quintuplets' Needy Cries
By Courtland Milloy
Sunday, November 13, 2005; Page C01


In years past, the birth of quintuplets has generated an enormous amount of publicity and support. Caring for five infants requires roughly 85 cases of formula, 1,200 disposable diapers and, later down the road, 1,500 jars of baby food each month. The babies need feeding and changing 22 hours out of 24, in addition to hugging and burping. Companies usually donate all the baby products and volunteers step in to provide services from housecleaning to nursing care.

But none of that has happened for Dickens and Davis. Except for the help of a few family members and friends, they are pretty much on their own.

Part of the problem was the initial media coverage of the Sept. 21 births. A 22-year-old woman has five babies after taking fertility drugs. As word of the births spread, some bloggers who monitor births online -- supposedly for the purpose of helping to find resources -- began mocking the names that Dickens had chosen for the babies: JaMir Amare, a boy, and his sisters, Si'ani Ritay, NaRae Dimetria, Jade Na'Liyah and Rayne Anye.

Dickens had suffered from a hormone imbalance since she was a teenager. Her body could not produce estrogen. She could not get pregnant. But what bothered her most was the severe skin problem caused by the hormonal imbalance. Her doctors put her on several medications, which provided temporary relief, before coming up with what was supposed to be the cure: a fertility drug called Clomid.

"I was told there was a chance I could get pregnant, but I became pregnant almost instantly, after less than a week of treatment, which is not common," Dickens recalled during my recent visit.

"Would I like more help? Sure, and a minivan, too," Dickens said, smiling as she looked up, her hands folded in prayer. "But regardless, I will never look at these babies and say, 'It's too much. I can't deal with it.' I chose to have them, and Noval and I, God willing, can take care of them......"

2005 The Washington Post Company