Fifth Minn. sextuplet dies

updated 5:26 p.m. ET July 23, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS - Only one of six babies born to a Minnesota couple last month was still alive Monday, and he remained in critical condition, hospital officials said.

The fifth sextuplet, Lucia Rae Morrison, died Sunday, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics said. Her death leaves one surviving son, Sylas, from the sextuplets born to Ryan and Brianna Morrison on June 10.

Three of the sextuplets died within the first week of their birth. A fourth child died June 23.

The Morrisons released a statement through the hospital thanking family and friends for support. No other information was released.

The babies were born about 4½ months early. They ranged in size from 11 ounces to a little more than a pound.

The Morrisons, both 24, spent more than a year trying to conceive before Brianna Morrison started taking fertility drugs, according to the couple’s Web site.

Their sextuplets were born less than a day apart from a set born in Arizona. One of those sextuplets, all considered relatively healthy, headed home from the hospital last week.

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