Spot the lie.

 

I also have to guess #3, at least that was my first inclination.

 

 

3) is in fact true. 5 years ago we wanted to get pregnant again with intrauterine insemination; our biological clock was ticking. due to our ages we had to take a lot of fertility drugs. our gynecologist had informed that lots of multiples could occur, but we decided to take the risk.

the first attempt was a failure, so for the second one the dose of fertility drugs was increased.

we actually both rolled a die as a kind of playful oracle before we went for the insemination, and when we both rolled a 6 we laughed. however, when we went for the first ultrasonic examination on Oct 1st and were told that we both were really pregnant with sextuplets we were quite shocked and needed a stiff drink (one should of course not drink alcohol while being pregnant, but a stiff one was medicine in this case). as it later turned out they were two sets of identical triplets each, and all girls. the chance for that was 6.25%, by the way. had we been wives of Henry 8th we would probably have been decapitated for bearing no male offspring.

we called our daughters Alice and Dorothy, and they asked us to wait an hour before coming home. we then knew they were up to something; they had already behaved very secretly in the previous weeks, always locking the door of their room from inside, and we had heard some sounds of manual work from within.

when we finally came home they had decorated the front door with a huge 12 on top and a sign saying "Home of the Fertility Goddesses Jeanine and Friederike". they had invited a few friends, and when we got out of the car two sedans were waiting for us into which we had to get. four of their friends carried those sedans inside while Alice and Dorothy paraded in front, one playing a guitar, the other banging on a drum singing some silly ditty they had written ("seht wie die Göttinnen sich vermehren vieltausendfach! kniet nieder, ihr sollt sie nun verehren vieltausendfach! oh wie ihre Körper schwellen von der Frucht ihrer Eizellen").

the floor was decorated with some purple fabric. we were carried to two thrones they had constructed that were decorated with gold paper. we had to sit down on them and were equipped with crowns and scepters that were made of gold paper and colored glass beads. the whole scene was hilarious, and we really had to laugh.

these multiple pregnancies were however a big problem too, logistically as well as financially. had they all survived we would have needed a bigger house, and taking care of them all would probably have required hiring some nurses too. we contacted a few manufacturers for diapers, baby food and baby clothes and asked if they would perhaps be interested in advertizing with us, and many were very interested. we grew really really big during our pregnancies.

we had Cesareans on Apr 10th 2015. only four survived though, the strongest of each triplet. we felt a strange mixture of sadness and relief. we were sad only four survived but also aware that a problem was solved, even if in a cruel way. the girls were named Siobhan, Selina, Sharifa and Shiba.

had all or most survived we would have made it a big media event since we could have needed the public attention. but the way it turned out we rather hushed it down.