Ammon News - The world's first surviving set of nonuplets are officially 5 years old!

On May 4, the nine siblings — four boys and five girls — quietly turned 5 years old in their home country of Mali. Born to Mrs. Arby Halima Oumar Cissé and Abdelkader Arby in Morocco, the siblings are the first known surviving nonuplets meaning nine children born at once — to survive birth, per Guinness World Records.

For this year's birthday, the family — which includes boys Mohammed VI, Oumar, Elhadji and Bah, and girls Kadidia, Fatouma, Hawa, Adama and Oumou — quietly celebrated the birthday at home.

"The nonuplets are all doing well at home as a family," Cissé told PEOPLE.

In honor of their birthday, the family shared a few exclusive photos with PEOPLE. In one, the siblings can be seen standing around their mom, who holds their Guinness World Record certificate. The girls wear matching denim outfits, while the boys were dressed in dark pants and white T-shirts.

There are also photos of the family of 11 outside together, sitting in the grass, as well as pictures of the siblings sitting together without their parents.

Cissé explained to PEOPLE that her nonuplets were "conceived naturally without anything at all." She also shared some of the challenges she faces raising nonuplets.

"The most difficult aspect of nonuplets is how it will go when they are going to integrate [into] society," she said. She added that they are preparing to send the nonuplets to school.

The babies were delivered via caesarean section at 30 weeks, weighing between 1.1 and 2.2 lbs. The family then remained in Morocco in a specially-equipped apartment with nursing assistance for the next 19 months, per the BBC.

"They all have different characters. Some are quiet, while other make more noise and cry a lot. Some want to be picked up all the time. They are all very different, which is entirely normal," Abdelkader told the BBC in 2022 ahead of the children’s first birthday.