McGhee sextuplets thriving after historic birth at Ohio State

“We had our moment,” says Olivia, who dressed identically to her sister, Madison, in a black-and-silver long dress, a rhinestone tiara and a sash. Their four brothers donned black pants, bright-colored vests and sunglasses.

A flair for the dramatic comes naturally to the six siblings – which is not surprising. They spent much of their early childhood in front of TV cameras, first starring in the reality TV show “Six Little McGhees” from 2012 to 2014, then “Growing Up McGhee” from 2016 to 2017.

By the time their last TV series ended, the children were 7 years old. Now, life has shifted from cameras and call times to football practice and part-time lifeguarding. The pace hasn’t slowed.

“It’s never boring,” Elijah says.

Now comes the hard part: six teenagers

There are days when parents Mia and Rozonno McGhee wish for boring. The teenage years are the toughest phase so far, they say. Tougher than feeding and burping, bathing and changing diapers for six babies. Tougher than being on guard with six toddlers, watching where they go and what they pick up and put in their mouths.

“This is the worst ever,” Mia McGhee jokes about parenting her children in adolescence.

No major problems – just the level of drama one teen can bring − times six.

“There’s so much pushback,” Rozonno McGhee Sr. says. “They’re clever, sneaky. They’re trying to test their limits.”

So how does he stay sane?

“Who says I’m not crazy?” he jokes. “I think I need counseling.”

The teens can’t wait to drive. With only a van and another car, they haven’t quite figured out how six kids with driver’s licenses and two cars is going to work.

Mia McGhee would rather not think about it right now.

“First, college. That’s more important,” she says. “We’ve got to take that one day at a time.”

Where their Ohio State story began

It’s hard for her to believe she’s even talking about college and driver’s licenses. Not that long ago, she and Rozonno were hoisting baby carriers into their van to bring their new babies home from the maternity unit at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

“I have six incredible, healthy babies. They’re not babies. They’re thriving teenagers,” Mia McGhee says.

As she talked about their recent 16th birthday party, she dug out their hospital wristbands, the tiny hats they wore after they were born, even their first diaper – about the size of the palm of her hand.

She’s still in awe that she delivered six babies who weighed from a little over a pound to a little over 2 pounds.

“Sorry,” she says. “I’m going to start crying.”

Caring for complex pregnancies and births

Though the McGhee sextuplets were the first and only set born at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, multiples aren’t unusual at the hospital. Many sets of twins and even triplets are born there every year.

Anyone having more than one child in a pregnancy is at higher risk for complications that can affect themselves and their babies. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists at Ohio State are specially trained to help prevent problems and treat even critically ill parents and their babies.

Ohio State is the only hospital in central Ohio designated as a Level IV maternity center, meaning it offers the highest level of care throughout the pregnancy, delivery and afterward.

The sextuplets were born in the original maternity unit at Doan Hall. Now all babies are delivered and cared for in the new, 26-story University Hospital where the top three floors are dedicated to maternity care.

Inside the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which is managed by partner Nationwide Children’s Hospital, postpartum triplet and twin rooms are available. Among the four operating rooms for deliveries, one is designed to accommodate up to three babies at once.

“You’re coming to a hospital equipped with all the resources to diagnose, manage and help you feel confident and comfortable if any complications come up. And if there are none, our staff and providers share in the joy,” says Bethany Stetson, MD, maternal-fetal medicine physician and director of clinical operations for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.

 

“We’re prepared for even the most complicated pregnancies and births,” Dr. Stetson says.

For three months before giving birth, Mia McGhee stayed in the medical center so she and her growing babies could be closely cared for. She had a private room. At night, her husband slept in the room and left in the morning for work.

“From day one, they welcomed us into the hospital and made us feel comfortable,” Rozonno McGhee says.

The day before the couple had a planned cesarean birth, the doctor who would deliver them, along with nurses and other support staff, joined hands with the parents-to-be and did what came naturally to the McGhees: They prayed.

“I’m a man of faith,” Rozonno McGhee says. “That’s what made me feel strong and at peace.”

Practice makes perfect on delivery day

The next day around noon, Mia McGhee was wheeled into surgery to a room filled with doctors, nurses and other medical staff – about 50 in all – who stood waiting to help with the delivery. The medical team had practiced. Each baby was assigned a color and letter to identify them during delivery; each baby had their own team of doctors and nurses.

The infants all spent some time in the NICU, with the last baby, Elijah, being released two months after he was born. He was recovering from a collapsed lung.

Hoping for one, preparing for six

Giving birth to six children, all at once, wasn’t exactly the original plan. A decade after they got married, Mia and Rozonno McGhee still weren’t having luck getting pregnant, so they tried fertility treatments and leaned on their faith.

“My husband always says we prayed too much,” she jokes.

She became pregnant with seven children – three girls and four boys, but one of the babies, a girl, died at 23 weeks. That was a month before her six siblings were born.

“God said we could handle six – not seven,” she says.

The sextuplets spent their early childhood in central Ohio, but in 2023, when they were 13, the family moved to Texas.

Growing up on camera

Going from childless to having six children overnight, the McGhees learned fast. They developed systems on the fly for feeding, clothing, bathing and putting their babies to sleep, all while being filmed.

“It was fun waking up and seeing the cameras in your face,” Elijah McGhee says.

After a while, he and his siblings didn’t really notice them.

Nor were they aware how famous they were. The sextuplets were about 10 when they stood in line at the snack bar at Kings Island near Cincinnati, and someone recognized them from TV. Could she take their picture, she asked.

Madison McGhee felt like a star.

Now she and the rest of her family are hoping to launch another reality show.

“I want people to see what we look like,” she says.

These days, their household brims with a different type of chaos than the baby years brought: Six teens doing homework all in the same room or watching a movie they somehow agree on, prepping for football practice and homecoming dances, clashes over who has the remote and outfits borrowed without asking.

The tiny babies central Ohio fell in love with now have big personalities – and maybe another story to tell.