Rare birth of naturally conceived identical triplets
Doctors guess chances are, "Between one-in-a-million to one-in-ten-million."
A mother in Shreveport, Louisiana had a very special delivery recently when her three, naturally conceived, identical triplet boys were born. Parents Auset Champion and Derrick Harris of Arcadia, Louisiana, both with a history of twins in their families, welcomed Averin Lamont, who weighed 3 lb. 12 oz., Amir Jaquez, born at 3 lb. 9 oz., and little A’dez Lavonte, who arrived weighing 3 lb. 8 oz. All were considered normal weights for premature infants born at 33 weeks.
The newborns were delivered by cesarean section in the Willis-Knighten South Center for Women’s Health and were then transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the hospital. Mother and babies are doing well and doctors say that the infants can be moved from the NICU when they are able to breathe and feed on their own.
This is a delivery that is extremely rare and surprised the triplets' parents and hospital staff. Dr. Betsy LeRoy told KSLA News 12, “The data is really, really hard to find, because we don’t see this happen that much. We guess anywhere between one-in-a-million to one-in-ten-million pregnancies.” The doctor added, “It’s something that we all have to scratch our head at and say, ‘This may be the only time we see this in our careers.’”
Pregnancies with identical fetuses carry additional possible complications. But Dr. LeRoy attributed the 18-year-old mother’s successful pregnancy to the fact that she was so healthy prior to conceiving the triplets and that she took good care of herself before and during the pregnancy.
Auset also has a 22-month-old son, and is a freshman at Grambling State University. She will continue her studies and the couple is fortunate to have the help of Auset’s mother and grandmother to care for their children. Derrick Harris said he was happy about the new bundles of joy, but admitted with a laugh, that when he found out Auset was pregnant with three, “I almost fainted.” Derrick, a school bus driver, told KTBS 3 , “It makes me proud and also makes me realize that I’m gonna have to push harder in life. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to make sure they’re satisfied, everyone’s satisfied and happy.”
Despite the rarity of naturally conceived identical multiples, just last year Good Morning America reported another such birth of identical triplets. On November 22, 2013, Hannah and Tom Hepner from Quincy, California, welcomed naturally conceived triplet girls, Abby, Brin and Laurel.
Videos and more info: KSLA, KTBS, Good Morning America
