OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Wilhoit quadruplets walked across the stage in succession at Shawnee Mission West’s graduation Thursday night.
It was fitting for Overland, Kansas siblings Ben, Mia, Noah and Zach, who are all 19 years old. They’ve spent most of their lives by each other’s side.
“Four kids at the same time is kind of wild, but it was always nice having somebody to play with when you were a kid. You have three buddies right next to you,” Noah said.
Tens of thousands of sets of twins are born in America each year and thousands of triplets, but the Wilhoits are in the handful of quadruplets. According to the organization Multiples of America, only 57 sets of quadruplets were born in the U.S. in 2015.
“The first year was kind of psychotic. We had 80-100 volunteers that would come over every week in two-hour shifts,” their father Mike said.
All four played varsity soccer for the Shawnee Mission West Vikings. Otherwise, they said they’re very different from each other but not that different from any other family.
“To us, it’s just normal, but other people always get a kick out of it, like ‘Oh really?'” Mia said.
“Really I think we are just a family of kids going through school. We just happen to be the same age,” Ben said.
Ben is going to KU in the fall to study medicine; Noah will attend Kansas State and study architecture. Mia and Zach plan to attend Johnson County Community College.
“I think they are more stoked than any of us are,” Zach said their parents and the quadruplets’ graduation.
“I think of mother birds when they just kick their kids out and they just hope they fly. I feel like our job’s kind of done. It’s scary,” their mother Jeannie Wilhoit said.
