Having a child born on February 29 is quite a rare thing.
Having two is improbable, and three almost impossible.
However, this is indeed what happened to David and Louise Estes, an American couple living in Utah.
On February 29, 2012, Louise gave birth to Jade, four years to the day after the birth of Remington, on February 29, 2008, and eight years exactly after the birth of Xavier, on February 29, 2004. Louise and David then equaled the record of the world for the largest number of children born on a leap day, held alone until now by a Norwegian family in the 1960s. The Henriksens had welcomed three children on February 29, 1960, 1964 and 1968, according to the essential Guinness World Records .
The Estes family, which has two other children born on more “normal” dates, enjoys this peculiarity.
“We are going to try to give our eldest a car for his fourth birthday,” Louise said with humor in 2012, as if to remind us that her children will have only celebrated four “real birthdays” at the age of 16.
More seriously, the family indicated that they usually celebrate their children's birthdays on February 28, and that every leap year, they organize a big family party on February 29.
“I thought it was a bit silly and crazy”
If it was indeed up to her to have the difficult task of giving birth three times on February 29, Louise thanks her husband for having imagined this special day for their family.
Indeed, if the eldest son Xavier was born “completely by chance” on February 29, 2004, Louise Estes affirms that the birth of two of her other children, on February 29, was not completely due to chance.
The mother, who had to be induced for her five deliveries, says that choosing February 29 “was a realistic option for our third and fifth babies”.
“David expressed his desire to choose this special day for their births.
Honestly, I thought it was a bit silly and crazy, but I agreed on the condition that my health and the babies' well-being would not be negatively affected,” she told KSL in 2020.
For Jade, the due date was February 24 but once this date passed, Louise announced that she was ready to be induced on February 29, the day when her 4 kg daughter was born at 7:16 a.m.
“We went five days over, which wasn’t easy, but it’s worth it,” she declared to the same American media after her delivery.