On May 28th, in 1934, a set of quintuplets were born outside Callander, Ontario. The province near Corbeil. Émilie, Yvonne, Cécile, Marie, and Annette Dionne were the first set of quintuplets to live up to adulthood.
The quintuplets were born prematurely, and they lived in a farmhouse in an unregistered area. Elzire, their mother was only 24 years of age when she gave birth to them. She mentioned that she believed she was with twins as she had never come across or heard of quintuplets till she was put to bed.
Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, with the assistance of Aunt Donalda and Madame Benoît Lebel, the two midwives brought by Olivia Donne, their father, together were able to deliver the babies.
Almost immediately, the information on the uncommon birth spread as Oliva’s brother questioned the local newspaper on the amount to announce the birth of five infants at a single birth. Within a short time, different forms of assistance were offered by people all over North America. With various individuals sending supplies and letters of advice, a hospital went ahead to send two incubators to them.
Some women helped by donating their breast milk to aid feed the quintuplets. The majority of these women who donated their breast milk were however compensated for their donations. Upon the arrival of the milk, it was stored and transported by train to the quintuplets. Dr. Alan Brown supervised that the quintuplets received twenty-eight ounces of breast milk every morning.
After spending just four months with their family, the custody of the quintuplets was handed over to the Red Cross who oversaw their care and paid for a hospital building for the sisters. Not up to a year after this agreement was penned, the Ontario government stepped in and passed the Dionne Quintuplets’ Guardianship Act, 1935 which made them wards of the Crown until they got to the age of 18. The Ontario provincial government and their members began using the kids to make profit as they were an important tourist attraction.
The quintuplet sisters were regularly checked, studied, and examined medically, with records of everything taken down. They were not allowed to get involved in activities and were privately taught in the same building where they lived. Upon turning 18, in 1952, the quintuplets left the home and had little relationship with their parents.
