A delight and a medical miracle, having four, six, or seven infants at once is quite unlike the relatively common birth of identical or fraternal twins. When Oksana Kobeletskaya, 37, gave birth to a set of quintuplets in June 2016—three boys and two girls—she already had a daughter. Not even IVF was used!

There was a lot of interest in this prominent case. The local government provided the family with an MUV and a five-room apartment. All six of Oksana’s children, together with her husband Sergey Semenov, rose to fame in Ukraine and other countries overnight.

The young mother pondered creating a blog even while expecting. There was obviously little time for it as the family was getting used to the new phase, but in the end, it was this late-night interest that kept the mother from going into depression.

Sergey’s patience, which seemed to be that of a wonderful husband and father, only lasted for a little over a year. He abandoned Oksana after six months, leaving her with nothing; the repairs on the new apartment were not finished (she and the kids were living in a country cottage), and social assistance and Oksana’s mother’s pension were barely enough to get by.

It was discovered after a few weeks that he was too exhausted from the day to even get out of bed at night.

I find it difficult to admit, but the father of my children, Sergey Semenov, and I have filed for legal separation.

Strangers came together to support the mother of six; various companies provided aid, and caring people raised money.

On her blog, Oksana discusses her experiences with raising children as well as issues she faces, such as what to do when several of them are ill at once, how to ensure their physical development, and whether or not to see a psychologist. There are few mentions of Sergey.

The thing that bothered me the most was that he removed the computer, keys, photos, and documents, which we were unaware of. This demonstrates how materialistic I am.

Her “recipe for survival” as a mother of six could be summed up in just five easy steps:

Maintain the same daily schedule.

Don’t lose your cool.

Distribute your efforts and provide tasks to others.

Occasionally switching up the environment is a good thing.

Take a break for yourself.

The regulations have to be followed by the quintuplets right away. I just tried to follow it, starting in the hospital where everything was on a schedule.

Oksana’s husband abruptly left her life, never making an effort to get in touch or provide for his kids financially. Recent evidence shows that he was disabled and could not pay alimony. Thankfully, Oksana makes some money from her blog.

I gather my wits when faced with a dilemma. I focus on the things I can do right away. Then, by some miracle, things start to look more promising or help starts to show up from unexpected sources.

A number of posts claim that this family’s life has stabilized. Nothing negative has been said by Oksana about her ex-husband.

We’ve all experienced situations that originally appeared hopeless. Oksana overcame a difficult situation that would have destroyed most people. Wouldn’t you consider this to be an excellent example to imitate?