Yahoo Lifestyle One in a million: identical triplets born to US couple
"Too hard to calculate." The chances of having identical triplets are anywhere from one-in-a-million to one-in-a hundred million.
Born on November 22 at Sutter Memorial Hospital in California, Abby, Brin and Laurel Hepner were conceived naturally, without the help of any fertility treatments.
The baby girls are the result of a single fertilised egg that split three ways to produce three babies who are almost exactly alike.
Dr William M. Gilbert, medical director of Sutter Women's Services and founder of Moms of Multiples, told the Sacramento Bee, “Identical triplets are anywhere from one-in-a-million and one-in-a hundred million. It is so rare that it is hard to calculate how frequently they occur."
The triplets were a healthy weight at birth, with Abby weighing in at around 1.5 kilograms, Brin weighed 1.7 kilograms and Laurel was 1.8 kilograms. Dr Gilbert stated that the baby girls are all doing well, even though there was a difference in weight. He said, “They usually don’t share equal amounts of the placenta, so therefore one gets a little less nutrition than the other. When you have a difference in weight, the little one does better after they are born because the stress of being little matures your lungs faster.”
The babies are still in hospital but once they gain some weight and can properly eat and maintain body temperature they will be allowed to go home with their parents, Hannah and Tom Hepner.
The couple discovered early in the pregnancy that the triplets were identical. However, Mrs Hepner says she doesn't think about the rare "one-in-a-million" chance of conceiving triplets now they have arrived, saying the description “loses its relevance when you are holding them. It did happen and they are here.”
The new mum added, “We understand that they are going to be individuals. We look forward to finding out who those individuals are and helping them along the way.”
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