Discovering that you’re expecting a baby is an incredibly precious and blessed moment. Finding out that you’re carrying triplets — now that comes as a ℎ to most mothers. So when doctors told 23-year-old Becki-Jo Allen from Liverpool, England, that she had three children in her belly, she was stunned.
But the surprise didn’t end there. When Beck-Jo gave birth, she received another massive surprise — one that no one was prepared for, not even the doctors. It turns out that her three baby boys were incredibly rare: they were identical triplets. The chances of this happening? One in 200 million.
Four years ago, Becki-Jo Allen and Liam Tierney had some good news to share with their daughter, Indiana. She was going to be a big sister. The couple, who live just outside of Liverpool, England, had been thinking about having more children, but they didn’t know how many more they’d have until they saw Becki-Jo’s ultrasound.
Miss Allen, from Gateacre, Liverpool, who also has a three-year-old daughter, Indiana, had an early scan nine weeks into the pregnancy due to severe headaches and nausea – and was given the bombshell news she was expecting triplets. “It was the biggest shock of my life! We haven’t got any triplets in the family so it came completely out of the blue,” Becki-Jo told the Liverpool Echo.
The triplets were delivered by at 31 weeks. Rocco was 3lb 5oz, Roman was 3lb 6oz and Rohan was 3lb 10oz. Being pregnant with triplets usually involves major complications, and it is rare for all three babies to survive. But thankfully, all three boys recovered and steadily gained weight. And after a month and a half at the hospital, the little guys were ready to go home.
They are the youngest of what is thought to be only a handful of naturally conceived sets of identical triplets in the UK. ‘I was surprised because I expected them to be non-identical,’ she said. ‘But then I’m normally the only one who can tell them apart, so that does explain a lot!’
Fortunately for their 23-year-old mother, tell-tale features plus the ten-month-old triplets’ emerging personalities mean she for one has no trouble telling them apart. ‘When they were newborns it was quite hard to tell which one was which, but I never got them mixed up myself,’ she said. ‘They’ve all got dark birthmarks between their eyebrows, but Roman’s is slightly darker than the others, and Rohan has got a birthmark on his leg as well. ‘When they were in the hospital, the doctors said they were non-identical, but since they came home lots of people have said they can’t tell them apart.’
ℎ ℎ ℎ . .
It’s incredibly rare for an egg to split in two and then for one of those two cells to split again during the first days of pregnancy. This is why in America in 2015, for example, only four sets of identical triplets were born.
Roman, Rocco, and Rohan obviously look incredibly similar. But Becki-Jo has no trouble distinguishing her sons. “It’s only when they’re asleep that they look the same to me. But they all have completely different personalities. And they’ve all got dark birthmarks between their eyebrows, but Roman’s is slightly darker than the others, and Rohan has got a birthmark on his leg as well,” Becki-Jo said.
The triplets go through about 130 diapers per week. Add to that five packages of wipes per week and you can see that these little guys keep their parents busy.
10-year-old Indiana seems quite happy with her unique brothers. What a proud big sister! “Indiana loves them. She’s not one bit jealous. I do feel a bit sorry for her when I think what it’s going to be like growing up with three little brothers though!” said Becki-Jo.
These guys will probably get a lot of attention for a while. And I think they deserve it because they’re a really adorable bunch!
