Re: What is the maximum number of multiple human births at one time?

According to Guinness World Records, the highest number of surviving 
children from a single birth is 7.  One set of surviving septuplets was 
born by caesarean section in Iowa, USA.  Another set of surviving 
septuplets was born in Saudi Arabia.  You can find more details at:  http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/record_catagories/recordhome.asp?
RecordID=48315
	It's a matter of time before the world record is broken.  There 
have been reports of decaplets (10 babies) being born.  However, it is not 
known how many survived.  A good website for fascinating facts about 
multiple births is: http://mypage.direc
t.ca/c/csamson/multiples.html
	As medical technology and fertility treatments improve, the 
highest number of multiple human births will probably increase.  However, 
it's hard to know what the theoretical maximum number of multiple human 
births is.
	It is important to note that a multiple birth pregnancy carries a 
high-risk of medical problems for the mother and the babies.  One way to 
lower the risk is by performing nonselective embryo reduction.  This 
procedure is conducted during the first-trimester.  It involves killing 
one or more of the embryos in order to increase the chances that the other 
embryos will survive.  Some webpages that mention nonselective embryo 
reduction are:  http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/0499mult.htm http:/
/webmd.lycos.com/question_and_answer/article/1693.50017
	The number of multiple births occurring in the world is 
increasing.  Much of this increase is due to fertility drugs and assisted 
reproductive technologies (eg. in vitro fertilization).  The website for 
the National Center for Health Statistics offers some statistics on 
multiple births. For example, in 1998 there were 110,670 live multiple 
births in the United States. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs
/fastats/multiple.htm