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O's Star & Wife Embrace Life With Multiples
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Once considered rare, multiple births are now far more common thanks to advances in medical science. Nobody knows that more than the Moras.
Orioles third baseman Melvin and wife Gisel had their prayers answered five times over.
Sally Thorner caught up with this famous Maryland family.
It seems everywhere you look these days, you're seeing multiples... two, four, five and more.
Even eight is a feasible number.
It's a multiples way of life at the Harford County home of the Orioles' third baseman Melvin Mora and his wife Gisel. The couple has six children.
"Unless you live the lifestyle, you can't understand it," said Gisel.
There's never a dull moment with their quintuplets Genesis, Rebekah, Jada, Christian and Matthew.
After school, the quints join big sister Tatiana for a taxing homework session. Gisel manages the home team, while Melvin travels with the Orioles.
"I don't know what I can do without her," said Melvin.
"When he's home, he's up at 6:30. He's the one packing lunches. He's the one that runs the kids to school," said Gisel. "First of all, he wants me to rest and second of all he feels that's quality time that he has with the children."
In seven years, Melvin and Gisel have fine-tuned their hectic life.
Like so many others who desperately want children, the Moras used fertility treatments to increase their chances.
From 1980-1997, the number of births involving triplets or more soared 404 percent, from roughly 2,000 to nearly 7,000.
"It's strictly related to fertility therapies," said Dr. Nathan Berger.
Dr. Berger says that's when doctors began using advanced fertility treatments.
"There's a large number of women who are trying to become pregnant, couples trying to become pregnant, and they'll go to any means to try to improve the likelihood of that working," said Dr. Berger.
In-vitro fertilization made headlines in January with the history-making births of octuplets in California.
"For a woman to have that many babies at one time is, I think, stretching nature's capabilities," said Dr. Berger.
As it is for most multiples, intensive care was for the Mora quints in their first, premature months.
Every day Melvin and Gisel count their blessings.
"I could spend a whole day telling you all of these different little ironic things that made us, brought a smile to our face," said Gisel.
Melvin's pro-athlete salary makes raising multiples more affordable. But even he gasped when learning he'd have five more mouths to feed.
"I just checked my wallet. I wanted to see how much money I had to take care of the kids," said Melvin.
In Harford County, there's no place like home for the Moras.
"The biggest misconception is that somebody lacks, that one of the children will lack attention or lack something. And my children, I feel, have much more," said Gisel. "Because what us as human beings can't give, because we're just one person, they can get from each other, and they do."
The sharp increase in multiple births has actually leveled off some in the last decade since doctors started advising women to limit the number of babies they carry.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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