Kienast quintuplets
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The Kienast quintuplets (born February 24, 1970), consisting of three girls (Amy, Sara and Abigail) and two boys (Edward and William Jr., known respectively as Ted and Gordon) were the first American set of surviving quintuplets to be conceived through the use of fertility drugs. They were born to William "Bill" Kienast, a salesman, and his wife Peggy Jo, who already had two children also conceived through the use of the fertility drug Pergonal. They were only the second set of surviving quintuplets born in the U.S. so news of their birth at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York made international headlines. They were brought home to Liberty Corners, New Jersey on April 27, 1970, two months after they were born. [1] As babies and toddlers they were featured on numerous talk shows and commercials, and Good Housekeeping magazine had an exclusive deal to publish four articles about them in their first two years.[2]. Despite the commercials the family began having financial problems. Bill Kienast had struggled in establishing two businesses, and in 1983 the family would have had their home foreclosed upon if not for the intervention of a local industrialist. In 1984 Bill Kienast committed suicide by carbon monoxide inhalation, which made national headlines. [3]
In May 2001 the quintuplets, then 31, and their mother gave an interview to Good Housekeeping, their last known national media appearance.[4]
