Jenni and James Casper, a couple who were told their odds of having identical triplets were one in 200 million, are thrilled to have welcomed three healthy baby girls.
The babies, named Harper-Gwen, Marvella, and Evalynn, were conceived naturally and were born nine weeks early at York Hospital on March 31st of last year. The couple expressed their delight and gratitude at the arrival of their three little miracles.
Initially, Jenni (27) and James (26) were informed that they were expecting twins, which typically have a one in 250 chance of occurring. However, at their 12-week scan, the couple was astonished to learn that they were actually expecting triplets, leaving them speechless with surprise.
Jenni and James, who already have two daughters named Danica (10) and Gabriella (4), are now proud parents to five daughters, including their identical triplets who were born prematurely and spent nearly six weeks in the Special Care Baby Unit at York Hospital.
Despite feeling a little overwhelmed and describing the experience as “surreal,” James, who works as a bin man in Selby, North Yorks, expressed his excitement and gratitude for his growing family. He said, “But we’re just overwhelmed and they’ve met their older sisters who are absolutely over the moon and are just so excited.”
The triplets weighed between 2lb 13oz to 3lb at birth, and the couple was thrilled to bring them home after their stay in the hospital. James said, “It’s amazing having them home now, it makes us feel more secure knowing that we have got them home.” The couple was also surprised to learn during the 20-week scan that their girls would be identical.
James recounted how his wife Jenni called him immediately after finding out about the triplets and shared the news over the phone.
Initially, he didn’t take her seriously, thinking it was a joke since they had joked about the possibility of having triplets before.
However, when Jenni sent him the scan photos of all three heads together, he was left in shock and disbelief.
James said, ‘I was absolutely speechless and I just didn’t know what to do. I was like ‘what do we do now?’
James said he experienced a range of emotions upon learning about the triplets, going from tears to happiness to worry about how they would manage. He added that the three girls, Harper-Gwen, Marvella, and Evalynn, are all physically identical and they have to put them in specific chairs to tell them apart.
As they are growing older, they are beginning to develop their own distinct features. For the first few days after coming home, the couple left the hospital wristbands on with their names on to avoid confusion.
According to James, they have designated specific seats and bouncing chairs for the identical triplets to differentiate between them.
‘So we have three different ones and we put them in the same chair so we know which one is which.
‘If me and Jenni had to close our eyes and someone mixed them up, then it would be very difficult to work out who is who,’ he explained.
James also expressed his amazement at the odds of having identical triplets, especially since there is no history of multiple births in their family.
“It’s one in 200 million because they are all identical girls and they share one placenta and that was feeding them all,” he said.
He joked that Jenni should try playing the lottery now that they have experienced such good luck, and added, “It’s absolutely amazing, we couldn’t be any happier really.”
Watch more:
Shen yun: the world’s top art troupe that you should not miss