Ubaid Khan’s home doesn’t quite look like Jon and Kate Gosselin’s — the Pennsylvania couple who featured in a reality show with their twins and sextuplets. Ironically, Khan says he is savouring the a Bollywood-like “Khan moment”, His neighbourhood is filled with people who want to catch a glimpse of the family of the Indian quintuplets. “Strangers are coming over with their familied in tow. My kids have made me famous,” says Khan.
“Do I look handsome? Don’t I look confident of supporting my kids?”, asks Ubaid Khan excitedly, sounding more like an excited teenager than a father. “I have been running around looking after my wife and kids between press conferences,” says the resident of Naya Nagar, Mira Roadwho runs a garment business. Did he foresee such a huge family? “No, only when my wife went for a sonography did we realise that we were about to have quintuplets.” Khan smiles and adds he is happy that all the children look similar to him.
Though the mother, Sabira Ubaid Khan, 24, was unavailable for comment, relatives added that she and her five children are doing well at the hospital’s advanced tertiary care facility, with an eight-member team of medicos attending them.
The challenges of raising quintuplets have caught up with Khan. He hasn’t had the time to go to work since the last for days. But is he prepared for his new life with six children-the couple has a ten-month-old son, too. “I have a very supportive family but I am worried that I will now have to concentrate more on work to support a larger family, which may mean spending lesser time with my children.”
It is rare to have quintuplets and only few governments around the world provide financial aid. The Ontario government, in 1934, had set up a trust fund for the Dionne quintuplets with assurances that the financial well-being of the entire Dionne family would be taken care of throughout their lives. Does Khan have similar expectations? “No, I don’t. My kids have brought me good luck and I will raise them without government aid” says the proud father.
And how about featuring in a reality show like the Gosselins, “Now, that I wouldn’t mind,” smiles Khan.
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