Living with three sets of twins in Oman

Muscat: When a couple got married in 2004, little did they think that within 14 years they would be parents to three sets of twins.
“For me, it is very interesting and special to have three sets of twins in the family, in addition to our other two boys. As for my wife, she was really happy when the twins arrived but taking care of them is very tiring,” said the father, Surur Al Handasi, 40.
“When I delivered the first set of twins I was really happy because I love twins and always wanted them,” said the mother, Fatma, 37. The oldest twins, Rahaf and Ariaf are 12; Ritaj and Rital came three years later; and Hood and Hiba are just one year old.
“When I had the second set of twins, I was happy but at the same worried about how I would raise them since I experienced how hard it was with the first set of twins,” said Fatma. “My eldest son, Husain, 13, asks me sadly why I gave birth to him alone, and says that I must love the twins more,” said Fatma, laughing. She added that Husain felt lonely and jealous sometimes as each set of twins tended to talk and play with each other most of the time.
“My kids are happy and feel special when they are with the extended family as there are no other twins,” said Fatma.
Fatma lives in Suwaiq with her children and her mother-in-law, who helps her raise the children, while Surur works two jobs in Muscat and has a daily commute of an hour as he tries to make ends meet.
“My wife is a strong woman and, because I work two jobs, she raises the children. And because of our financial condition, I have not been able to hire a housemaid to help her,” said Surur.
“The expenses are difficult. You are obliged to provide twice as much of everything—diapers, milk, etc. And the older they get, the more they need,” said Surur.
However, said Fatma, the children understand the situation and adjust to it.
Fatma and Surur also find it difficult to follow up on what their children are doing in school.
“In the early years, I struggled to help the children with their school work as they were all so young. Now, the older ones fend for themselves and only turn to me or their father to clear doubts. This leaves me free to concentrate more on teaching the younger twins in grade three,” said Fatma.
How do they deal with the quarrels and jealousy among the eight children? Fatma says she tries her best to keep calm when the children start to make a mess and get noisy in the house. She’s also careful not to discriminate among the children to prevent jealousy. The father said that though there was some petty rivalry among the sons, they all cared about each other
Though the father works two jobs most days of the week and the mother is busy taking care of the children, they are keen to find time to go out on trips with their children. “On the weekend and holidays, we go out to the park or the sea and enjoy our time together,” said Fatma.
“In Oman, we need programmes to help families with a number of twins, because this is a great pressure on the head of the family, especially if the financial level of the family is modest,” said Surur.
Asked if she thought of having more children, Fatma said, “I thank God for these many children. It is enough and I will devote my effort to caring and raising our eight children.”