From utero to university, quadruplets stay together
Tight-knit siblings are believed to be the first such student foursome in McMaster’s 128-year history
The other Fab Four are going to university.
The Samuel quadruplets — Sarah, Serah, Samuel and Salome — start classes at McMaster on Sept. 8. They are believed to be the first student quadruplets in the university’s 128-year history.
Asked if they always planned to go to the same school, they answered yes, in unison.
“Four brains are better than one,” said Salome, 18, in an interview at McMaster’s student centre on Thursday with her siblings. She wore glasses and a collared, navy-and-white polka-dotted dress that matched her sisters’.
Although they haven’t declared a major yet, they’re all interested in going into health care in some capacity. Apart from one or two classes, their schedules are the same, their father Samuel Devasikhamony said.
“It’s because they have the same goal,” he explained.
While some freshmen can feel lonely in university as they struggle to make new friends, Salome said she won’t have that problem. Among the 21,400 undergrads at McMaster, there will be at least three very familiar faces.
Throughout the quadruplets’ studies, they have relied on one another, often hitting the books and brainstorming together, they said.
(It paid off: They applied to uni- versity with A averages only one or two percentage points apart, their parents said.)
In fact, the four, who live in Mississauga, were practically inseparable growing up. Except for Samuel, who goes to camp for two weeks in the summer, they hardly spent any time apart. “He always wants to come back (early),” said his dad, with a smile.
While it’s often recommended that younger twins be separated, that doesn’t necessarily apply at college, said Laura Baker, a psychologist at the University of Southern Califor-
“Many twins enjoy a close and special relationship, which is not necessarily a bad thing.” LAURA BAKER PSYCHOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
nia, who has researched the bond between twins.
If they are identical, “then their interests and abilities may be very closely matched,” she said in an email.
“So it would make sense that they might want to pursue the same things in college. If they are having difficulty with their individualities, that’s another matter.
“Many twins enjoy a close and special relationship, which is not necessarily a bad thing.”
Sarah, the eldest sibling by half a minute, said she has a very strong bond with her brother and sisters.
“We just want to stick together and be there for each other,” she said.
“We kind of think the same, so if I start a sentence one of them will finish it and it’s exactly what I was thinking,” added Serah.
Sarah’s identical sister Serah was born second, quickly followed by Samuel and Salome.
They were born in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and moved to Canada when they were a month and a half old.
About 100 sets of triplets, quadruplets and quintuplets are born each year, according to the non-profit Multiple Births Canada.