My name is Gail Moore, and I have four wonderful children – Christopher now 23, Sarah-Lana 21, Zachary and Jeremy 17. Yes, I am a mother of twins – dizygotic twins – extremely dissimilar in looks and in personality!
From the minute they were born in 1993, I knew this experience of mothering two at once was going to be unique from my first two experiences, which is a story all in itself, but what I did not know was one day I would be leading an annual event called National Multiple Births Awareness Day.
It began innocently, in 2004, when I joined the Board of Multiple Births Canada (MBC) as Director of Communications. My first assignment was to lead the awareness project, which started with picking a date. The date we chose was May 28th – the day the Dionne Quintuplets were born. These monozygotic girls were removed from their family and became world-famous public exhibits living in a government run facility in the 1930’s. In later years, when they began to speak out about the loss of their childhood and the effect it had on their lives, as parents of multiples we understood the loss and mourned with them. It was this kind of impact we wanted from National Multiple Births Awareness Day, and when we explained this to the surviving sisters, they agreed to share their birthday with us and support the initiative.
Our first event was held in 2005 at the Dionne Quints Museum in North Bay, Ontario. About fifty parents of multiples and some of our children attended the historic event to support the theme: A Call to Dialogue regarding current provisions for maternity, parental and compassionate care leave under the federal Employment Insurance Program.
This year, we will celebrate our sixth annual National Multiple Births Awareness Day. Over the years, we have focused on a variety of themes including – creating awareness of the risks involved with multiple pregnancies; encouraging fertility specialists to fully disclose these risks with their patients before they become pregnant; encouraging the involvement of parents in annual class placement decisions affecting their multiples; and recognizing the uniqueness of the multiple-birth relationship while encouraging the individuality of each person. This year, our theme is: “Canada’s EI Parental Leave must reflect the needs of multiple-birth infants.”
Multiple Births Canada is the only national organization supporting the needs of Canada’s multiple-birth community. For 32 years, MBC has been producing educational resources to guide parents and professionals in their journeys as providers for our multiple-birth children. Our members have access to Fact Sheets on a wide range of topics including – Breastfeeding Multiples, Co-bedding and Multiples, Parental Relationships After Multiple Births, and many more. Our resources are listed online at www.multiplebirthscanada.org. Many of our members belong to local groups which are affiliated with the national organization. This allows them to network with each other and benefit from sharing experiences and best practices.
Our website is internationally recognized for its content and its universal outreach including our Support Networks. These groups provide multiple-birth families networking opportunities with other multiple-birth families in the same or similar situation through a listing service that allows them to share concerns and areas of expertise with one another. Our busiest networks are in the following categories: Breastfeeding, Higher Order Multiples, Lone Parents, Loss of Multiples, and Special Needs.
Another huge annual event is our National Conference. This year, it is being held in Edmonton, Alberta, September 23-26. It features presentations by experts in the multiple-birth field including a keynote speaker, Dr. Karyn Gordon – a parent/youth coach, motivational speaker, therapist on The Mom Show (on Slice Network), author, as well as a mother of twins. Details are online at www.multiplebirthscanada.org.
Being involved with MBC and leading the National Multiple Births Awareness Day event allows me to enlighten others on the unique needs of multiple-birth children and their families, to mentor families as they go through the various stages of the multiple-birth journey, and to make a difference – not just in my home community, but across Canada. For many, MBC is a supportive hand and caring ear when they need it most!
Author: Gail Moore – mbcchair@multiplebirthscanada.org,MBC Chair and Director of Communications
