In the late 1950s, my family lived in a small, recently-built housing tract in Long Beach, California that counted 17 sets of twins, 3 sets of triplets, and 1 set of quadruplets all under the age of 12 in a total of 54 homes. I think it was some sort of national record, although no one could figure out if it was environmental or simply coincidence.

I do know that my youngest sister --who was conceived and born there-- ended up dying of early onset breast cancer at the age of 36.