Tots and tots of identical love
EXPECTANT MUM Rachael Wilmshurst and her husband, Nigel, were advised to buy a Lotto ticket after learning they’d soon have three new mouths to feed.
Naturally conceiving and giving birth to identical triplets is a rarity, and their fertility specialist Simon Kelly reckons they’re more likely to win Lotto. But the Auckland couple are in no hurry to follow through on the recommendation because they think they’re lucky enough.
The pair welcomed their daughters Imogen Alice (2.22kg), Lucy Rose (2.11kg) and Emily Charlotte (1.31kg) on July 7, joining an exclusive group of parents who defy odds medical experts put as high as one in 200 million. It is more common for triplets to be born to parents undergoing fertility treatment.
Wilmshurst, 42, is also mum to 5-year-old Lachlan and Harry, 3.
She discovered she was pregnant just before Christmas and had her first scan in January.
‘‘The specialist spent ages on the scan and he wasn’t telling us anything. I couldn’t see the screen and kept saying, ‘Is everything OK?’’’
Another doctor was then called in to reveal the news.
‘‘I wasn’t expecting it at all, it was a real surprise,’’ she said.
They’ll always have someone to be friends with
Identical or monozygotic triplets are formed from a single egg that splits three ways to ultimately result in embryos with the same DNA characteristics.
Wilmshurst is the first member of her family to give birth to triplets, though there are a few sets of twins on her father’s side.
Her babies were born at 33 weeks – seven weeks premature – and will be in Waitakere Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit for another three weeks.
Wilmshurst is already struggling to tell her daughters apart and relies on identification bracelets and labels attached to their cots.
She’s looking forward to getting to know them.
‘‘It will be interesting to see whether they’ll have similar interests or be different to one another. I’m sure they’ll get away with things or blame each other, but they’ll always have someone to be friends with.’’
Waitakere Hospital clinical director for obstetrics Sue Belgrave can’t recall a birth like it during her 15 years in the area.
‘‘The fact they’re identical makes them rare. The fact they’ve been conceived naturally makes them extraordinarily rare, so this is highly exciting,’’ she said.
Statistics New Zealand figures show 20 sets of triplets were born in New Zealand in 2010.
The number of identical triplets in New Zealand is unknown.