An excerpt from an ongoing series at Isn't Life Terrible:
What's missing in the story of the Dionne Quintuplets... is a hero. Someone who rides to the rescue. Someone who says "This is wrong and it has to stop."
- It wasn't Dr. Dafoe, who commandeered the quints, was celebrated by the press as a savior, and made a lot of money.
- It wasn't Oliva Dionne, whose initial reaction to the birth was to "sell the Quints," in order to make a lot of money.
- It wasn't Father Daniel Routhier, from whom Oliva Dionne sought guidance and who suggested that, since the children were a miracle from God, 7% of the money should be given to the church.
- It wasn't Elzire Dionne, who had married at 16 and was the embarrassed mother of 10 at age 25.
- It wasn't Dr. W.E. Blatz, who headed the team from St. George's School for Child Study at the University of Toronto, who cataloged every move the Quints made but either did not see, or did not want to see, the big picture.
- It wasn't Mitchell Hepburn, the premier of Ontario, who arranged for the Quints to be taken from their parents legally, via a "guardianship" act that officially gave the government and Dafoe full charge.
Yvonne, Marie, Emilie, Annette and Cecile had to become their own heroes.
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