Five children. A lifetime of stories. Preorders now open
InConceivableHow My Parents Survived the Joy and Chaos of Raising Quintuplets
LIFE put them on its cover.
Barbara Walters met them as babies and returned before college.
Now Shira Pisner Kundinger, the only girl among the Pisner quintuplets, invites you into the laughter, love, and glorious upheaval of growing up with four brothers her own age and a nation watching.
$25.00 Paperback · Family memoir
Ships the last week of October 2026.
Payment collected at checkout. US shipping: $5.45 for the first book, +$1 each additional.
Inside the Pisner family
Five children at once.
How did they do it?
Their baby pictures made LIFE. Barbara Walters met them in infancy and returned as they prepared for college. CBS’s 48 Hours even broadcast their driving tests. What was it like to grow up as one of five children the country already knew? Shira, the only girl among the Pisner quintuplets, brings together her own memories and her parents’ voices to tell the family story behind those headlines.
Five children, all the same age. Two parents figuring it out as they go. From round-the-clock baby care and a diaper van to school days and leaving home, this intimate memoir reveals the ingenious logistics, everyday laughter, and extraordinary love that helped five siblings become five distinct people.
If you’ve ever raised a child, grown up with siblings, or wondered what happens after the cameras leave, pull up a chair. Meet the resourceful, overwhelmed, wonderfully human family who lived this remarkable story.
A little of
the chaos.
From “Going Out in the World: The Logistics, the Challenges, and All Eyes on Us”
Shira’s parents, Dan and Pam, remember life beyond the diaper bag.
Dan: The cargo included diapers, wipes, bottles, and everything else from a diaper bag. Except ours was a diaper van.
Dinner out while one baby slept peacefully in a carrier wasn’t an option with five. If we wanted company, people came to us. For a while, babies were our entire world, and we knew almost nothing about life beyond them.
Pam: That reminds me of a favorite story. When the babies were several months old, we invited a few couples to dinner. We hadn’t been anywhere public, and television and news had vanished from our routine. Our friends discussed politics and current events while Dan and I sat at opposite ends of the table, silent and hopelessly out of touch.
Dan: We had absolutely nothing to contribute!
Pam: During a lull, I looked at Dan and announced, “Did you know today is Big Bird’s birthday?”
Our only contribution to an adult conversation was Sesame Street. Another time, a neighborhood babysitter asked what we thought of “Ferraro.” We had no idea Geraldine Ferraro was running for vice president and replied, “It’s a nice car, but our kids won’t fit in it.”
We had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
Ships the last week of October 2026.