MISSION VIEJO : Parents of Twins, Triplets Get Support

If there’s anything tougher than being a financially strapped single mother with a newborn child, it’s being a single mother with twins. Or triplets.

From Irvine to San Clemente, the Saddleback Mothers of Multiples helps both single mothers and families get through the emotional and financial tribulations of multiple births.

Today, the South County group will hold an art auction to raise money to provide food and clothes to parents with twins and triplets who are having trouble making ends meet.

The 6 p.m. event will be at the Montanoso recreation center, 25800 Montanoso Drive, off Estanciero and Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo. An $8 donation will be asked from those attending the fund-raiser.

“The impact of a multiple birth can be devastating to single mothers,” said Sonja Griesbach, group vice president and a mother of four, including a pair of twins. “Often, they are forced to go on welfare. You find they really, really need the support.”

Two-parent families need help, too, she said.

“We also assist married couples who work hard but just don’t have enough money to support twins on top of their other children,” she said.

Food certificates from local stores are passed out. Saddleback Mothers of Multiples hold benefit garage sales three times per year where families that need clothes are allowed to take what they need.

The group began 25 years ago and has grown to include 148 families, who pay $20 per year to join. Twenty families have triplets; the rest have twins. Another 85 parents of twins in South County are eligible to join.

Families generally learn about the group from area hospitals, obstetricians and other places serving parents of newborns.

In addition to food and clothing, the group also lends moral support. There is a 24-hour hot line for families and regular meetings where advice is given and emotions aired.

“We all get together in the age group of our twins and talk about coping,” Griesbach said. “Like how to handle two 2-year-olds who wake each other up and scream all night.”

Griesbach also helps twins and triplets break into show business. Her twins have appeared on a soap opera. The twins of another mother in the group were recently cast to play a newborn on the new comedy series “Grace Under Fire,” Griesbach said.

Caring for twins isn’t all bills and hassles, she said.

“The rewards are doubled for you,” she said. “You get twice as many kisses and hugs. And when they walk and talk for the first time, that’s twice as special.”

For more information about the Saddleback Mothers of Multiples, call (714) 492-3089.