The Quad Squad: Woman Gives Birth to Quadruplets Naturally After Years of IVF

Rabbi Yisroel and Sara Gutovitch, a Los Angeles-based couple, gave birth to quadruplets on July 4^th. They missed the traditional fireworks display but had their own celebration at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center instead. The babies, or the “quad squad” as their parents call them, are doing well. One is now home, and three of them are currently in the NICU. Their older brother, Chezzy, only three, is anxiously waiting to meet his other siblings.

After three years of infertility, this pregnancy—shockingly—came naturally. Sara Kahen Gutovitch’s first son came easily. She was pregnant soon after the wedding, had an uneventful pregnancy and easy birth. When it was not happening right away the second time around, the insensitive comments began. Acquaintances would ask, “Nu, when is the next one coming?”

Sara developed PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), and after her first miscarriage, she began feeling isolated and alone in the process.

“Our oldest was three, and I would see other couples who had been married much shorter than we were with more children and couldn’t help but feel I was falling into the baby Olympics trap. But I quickly realized these thoughts were not helpful. I decided to change my approach and outlook.”

In the face of the hurtful comments, she decided to start responding with vulnerability, instead of embarrassment.

She’d say, “Actually, I would love nothing more than if you would pray for me.”

People usually froze when she answered this way, but sometimes they would respond, “Oh, I also had a miscarriage—did you try checking….” or “Try this thing I did, it worked…”

When Sara started sharing her vulnerability, she began feeling less alone and slowly but surely a community started to form.

After her miscarriage they tried IVF, which was not successful. She was devastated and took a pause in her efforts to have another child. Trying again right away felt too intense on her body and her emotions.

During this break, she started developing a healthier diet. Once she felt her body was in a better place, she worked on her spirituality. She had felt a spiritual void. She was praying but with hardly any emotion. She was saying the words, feeling empty inside. She also started reviewing the laws of family purity. This holistic approach empowered her body, soul, and mind to recover.

Sarah also froze her eggs as an “insurance policy,” and she and her husband created an embryo.

“We implanted the embryo [which was a girl], a few days after going to the mikveh (which ends the period of separation between husband and wife during menstruation and allows the couple to be intimate with each other). We had asked the doctors what to do and they said if anything, we might have twins.”

When they went to the doctor to see the first ultrasound, there was a pause. “What’s going on?” Sara and Yisroel asked, growing concerned.

“We are counting,” the doctors replied.

“Counting what?” Sara thought.

The doctors informed them that there were four embryos and Sara and her husband started to laugh. “I’m not one to laugh nervously, but I couldn’t help it. My husband was standing against the wall and I watched him slowly sink to the floor.”

The doctors said, “Stop laughing, this is serious. You need to see a specialist immediately... today.”

Sara explained, “Unbeknownst to us, when we went in to do one egg transplant, we were already pregnant with triplets, and possibly quadruplets. We do not even know if that one implant worked. IVF is always saying it’s a 50-50 chance. They tell you for every two embryos, you hope to get one live birth. We put one in and walked away with four. None are identical. Totally fraternal.

“The pregnancy was a roller coaster. I think for the first ten weeks or so after we found out [15 weeks in] it was really walking on eggshells.”

Doctors were telling her to reduce the number of embryos. Everyone around her was scaring her with lines like: “You could lose your uterus. Are you sure you want to do this?” Medically, everyone was sharing the worst statistics with her.

“My doctor was not really giving his input, but everyone else was.”

Sara didn’t know what to do, and did not feel strong enough to make such a heavy decision.

She prayed, “God, I am not strong enough. I need You to take care of it. I am not sure who You think I am that You are assigning this to me. I do not want to be the one to make the decision to reduce. If You want to reduce, You take care of it.”

Medical appointments were fraught with fear and happiness. She’d wonder, What if today is the day I do not hear a heartbeat? Part of her knew she would be devastated and another part of her knew she’d be relieved. “My prayer was, ‘God, You figure this out.’

“Every time that I went in I saw that they were growing, there were heartbeats, and I saw ten fingers and ten toes. When I got word back from the amnio that everything was great, it reaffirmed the miracle and made me feel more confident that we are going to go all the way.”

Fortunately, there were no major difficulties with Sarah’s pregnancy. No gestational diabetes, hypertension, or high blood pressure.

“The most transformative thing was seeing the doctors and nurses who were at first very hesitant jump on board with us. Initially, we said to them, ‘positive vibes only.’ Then towards the end of it when I got nervous, they would remind us, ‘positive vibes only.’

“I was determined to make it to my son’s birthday party. I was pretty stubborn, and said, ‘I can guarantee you these babies are staying inside me because I am not missing my son’s upsherin [third birthday party]. We are all in this together.”

Sara did make it to the birthday party but it was not easy to get to the end of the pregnancy. “I had to learn to trust my body and let it take the lead. I was on limited mobility, but did not let it stop anything. We went to Disneyland for Father’s Day. We went to the museum. I had to use a wheelchair, but I was kind to myself about that.”

Finally, the babies were ready to arrive and led by her High Risk OB, Dr. Steven Rad, the staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center stepped up to the challenge.

“Everyone at Cedars-Sinai was completely dedicated. It is really sweet to see people coming together for something good. They are all blown away by this miracle.”

Meredith Bevin, Registered Nurse, claims that this is the first set of quadruplets she has seen in 25 years in the NICU of Cedars-Sinai.

Quadruplets are extremely rare, and occur in only one out of every 700,000 pregnancies. Of the 3.6 million babies born in the U.S. in 2021, only 133 births involved quadruplets or higher multiples. 90% of all quadruplets are conceived through IVF. The doctors are not exactly sure as to what happened in Sarah’s case, but they know that at least three of the babies were natural, and possibly all four. These babies are pure miracles.

Sara agrees. “What happened is miraculous and not within the realm of nature. This does not happen otherwise.”

Her husband, Yisroel, added, “None of this is normal.”

The four babies were born on the fourth of July, on the fourth floor, and each weighed just over four pounds. Sara’s sister, Sasha, ran to the grocery store to grab a few items—and the total was $44.44.

A surplus of fours

Sara felt like the numerous fours that kept appearing indicated that she was exactly where she was supposed to be, and that all of this was meant to be.

The new mother of the quads also has two MBA degrees and a thriving career working in business and strategy. She has now been thrust into this new role she does not fully feel prepared for, despite being a very accomplished woman.

As for the babies, Chaya is home, and Sarah is managing her time between her and the other three in the NICU.

Sara added, “I don’t know how it’s going to look when all of the kids come home, but I know God will help me. Nothing is too big for God, and now I approach things differently.

“Sometimes our own prayers can be limiting. I found myself praying that the babies would stay in the NICU longer because I did not have the car seats, I did not have the diapers, I did not really have anything. I realized I was praying from a fear-based approach not a love-based approach. God is infinite and all-powerful, and rather than praying from a place of scarcity, I realized I have to pray from a place of knowing God’s abundance and love. I thought, What am I doing? I want the babies to come home! How we get the car seats and the diapers—God will help.

“Suddenly, my uncle called. There was a store closing down, and he found car seats for 50% off and then discounted another 20%. He asked, ‘Do you want me to get four?’”

In addition to Chaya, whose name means “life” in Hebrew, the other baby girl has been named Shira, song, because she came out “singing” all night in the NICU. The two boys will be named once a bris is permissible for them.

She wants to encourage people to be intentionally sensitive to others. “You never know what issues people are dealing with, and thoughtless comments can be so painful.” Women experiencing infertility do not have to suffer in silence. “It’s important to open yourself up and share your struggles with others. Good vibes. Think good and it will be good.“

Sara also wants to inspire others to really see the miracles around them. “Even taking a deep breath and all that goes into it is miraculous.”

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