By Aren Framil, Co-News Editor
For many students, starting high school can be an unfamiliar and often isolating experience. But, for freshmen quadruplets Issaam, Mehran, Nuriya and Ramiz Mussani, it is very much a family affair.
In February 2009, Sharmeen Mussani gave birth to quadruplets: one girl, Nuriya, and three boys, Issaam, Mehran and Ramiz. Quadruplets are rare, only occurring one in every 700,000 pregnancies. While Sharmeen said she was not expecting four kids at once, she took the challenge in stride.
“We were planning to have our second child — I have one senior at Conestoga right now — and we ended up with four more,” Sharmeen Mussani said. “Honestly, I laughed for like five days (when I found out) because I had never even heard of the word quadruplets before, so I didn’t think it was for real.”
As for the quadruplets themselves, they said that while growing up with three other siblings their age was generally uneventful, some shared experiences were definitely more exciting than others.
“A lot of things are different, like birthdays. Those are really crazy,” Issaam Mussani said. “There would be lots of kids. You have to choose which friends to invite, because everybody can’t invite (all of their friends), because there would be too many people.”
Outside of the house, the siblings also provide each other with support and healthy competition in school, which Sharmeen Mussani said helps keep them “on top” of their grades and schoolwork.
“They weren’t really mischievous or anything like that; they’re good kids,” Sharmeen Mussani said. “I don’t have any crazy memories, but everything has been so fun. With (the siblings), I have a whole healthy competition going on for school, (where they) try to be better than each other, in a good way.”
While growing up together may come with a sense of fellowship, the Mussanis each have their own hobbies and after-school activities, separate from the rest of their siblings. Their interests vary from art to cross-country to soccer and tennis. According to Nuriya Mussani, their sibling status tends to stay separate from their social lives as well.
“I feel like people forget that we’re siblings,” Nuriya Mussani said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, I forget you live in the same house.”
Amidst the ups and downs of life, Sharmeen Mussani believes being quadruplets has benefited both her kids and herself.
“If one (sibling) has a problem, I have the other three who could try and help out,” Sharmeen Mussani said. “We have a built-in party going on for family fun night. We don’t need anybody else to play games and things like that. I think it’s been one big adventure.”
Aren Framil can be reached at [email protected].
