There are days when a mother feels like her body isn’t her own. It’s like she’s been taken over by something tender. Pregnancy can feel like carrying the universe on your spine, with every ache, stretch mark, and sleepless night reminding you that you’re building a life from scratch.
Most women go through this once, twice, maybe a few times in life.
Halima Cissé, a 25-year-old from Mali, set a world record by giving birth to nine babies in a single delivery. All nine, five girls and four boys, survived. Making it a historic and medically rare event.
Wonder Woman
In the spring of 2021, the world watched in awe as a woman from Mali, named Halima Cissé, made medical history. It was not by choice, but by courage. What she thought was a rare, high-risk pregnancy turned into a global headline when doctors in Morocco, where she had been transferred for advanced care, discovered something truly astounding. She wasn’t carrying one baby. She did not deliver two or even three. It was nine tiny humans by one incredible mother.
Halima gave birth to nonuplets, which means nine babies at once, via C-section at 30 weeks gestation. The babies, each weighing between 1.1 and 2.2 pounds, were delivered by a team of 32 medical professionals working together in a high-stakes, high-pressure operation. They were named Mohammed VI, Oumar, Elhadji, Bah, Kadidia, Fatouma, Hawa, Adama, and Oumou. These are the five girls and four boys who defied every medical expectation. The Guinness World Records later confirmed it as the most children delivered at a single birth to survive.
Four Years Later
Fast forward to May 4, 2025, the Arby nonuplets just turned four. New photos show them grinning with their proud parents, Halima and Abdelkader Arby, alongside their big sister Souda, now six. Their home is full of laughter, little feet, and likely more sippy cups than shelves.
Halima shared that, “The children are all well, by the grace of God. They have grown so much since their last birthday.” And with nine mini humans under one roof, the family decided to throw a celebration as grand as the journey that brought them to life with balloons, cameras, and enough cake to feed a village.
After the birth, the family stayed in Morocco for 19 months in a specially equipped apartment with nursing assistance. Because as Halima said, “Even one baby is hard. Imagine nine at the same time!”
Halima Cissé didn’t just survive one of the most complicated pregnancies ever recorded, but she even walked through it with grace, courage, and unwavering faith. In her story, we see medical wonders along with the definition of real strength.
Changing one diaper is routine for a mother but imagine changing nine? That’s a relay race with no finish line. By the time baby number nine is done, baby number one is ready for round two. Now that’s motherhood on expert mode. Would be strong enough to even live with that kind of a routine?