Quintuplets
April 24th 2008 02:02 am
Off to College
Quintuplets Leave the Nest
Empty-nest syndrome hit Dan and Pam Pisner harder than most parents who send their children off to college. All five of their children - quintuplets who made headlines when they were born in 1983 - left for college last fall.
ABCNEWS’ Barbara Walters first got to know the Pisner children - Devin, Ian, Shira, Michael and Elliot - when they were 14 months old. She revisited the quintuplets last year, as they prepared to leave their home in Olney, Md. and head off to college.
A Natural, But Difficult, Change
“It’s just so hard to believe that 18 years have gone by so quickly,” said Pam, a government worker who was 29 years old when she gave birth to the quintuplets after fertility treatments. “I am going to be crying my eyes out. They are going to leave this house as quickly as they entered - all at once.”
For Dan, a computer network consultant who works from home, it’s a difficult transition as well. “I thought we got to keep them forever,” he said. But, he has realized, “You don’t get to keep them forever and this is natural.”
Four of the Pisners are at the University of Maryland, about 15 miles away. Elliot left the pack to attend Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md., which is about a 2 1/2 hour drive.
“I just loved their campus,” said Elliot, who plans on focusing on management information systems. “I’ll admit I’ll probably miss them,” he said of his siblings, adding with a laugh, “Maybe.”
Devin, who was the first-born by 30 seconds, might be described as the troublemaker. Michael, who plays the keyboard and paints is known as the artistic one, while Elliot is labeled the smartest. Shira is the most outgoing sibling, and Ian is known for having the most common sense. The hardest part about being a quintuplet, they say, is finding privacy.
On the flip side, they also thrive in the midst of the constant tumult in the home they call “Camp Pisner.”
“There’s always somebody going through the same thing at the same time,” says Ian.
“And you always have somebody to talk to,” adds Shira. “It’s like a friend because they’re the same age and you are going through the same problems.”
Advice From the Quints
With fertility treatments and multiple births becoming more common, the Pisner kids offered some advice for raising children from multiple births.
“Don’t dress your kids alike,” suggested Michael.
“Take it one step at a time,” said Ian, knowing that his parents did just that. “Don’t get too far ahead.”
Shira, the only girl in the bunch, said, “Make sure you treat them as individuals.”
And Elliot added: “When it comes to school, don’t put them all in the same class.”
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