A DUBLIN hospital welcomed identical triplets into the world on New Year’s Day in what experts say is a one in a million occurrence.
Three baby boys were born just before midday on Wednesday, January 1, to parents Annmarie Byrne-Ryan and David Ryan.
The births had been scheduled for January 8, but Annmarie’s waters unexpectedly broke at their home in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
While instances of triplets are rare, David and Annmarie’s experience is all the rarer for the fact their babies were conceived without medical intervention.
Speaking RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Master of the Rotunda Professor Fergal Malone explained that, in the majority of instances, triplet pregnancies are a result of fertility therapy.
“Only about 10 per cent of triplet pregnancies occur spontaneously, just naturally without any medication or intervention at all,” he said.
“Probably no more common than one in a million or even less. The embryo splits once into two identical twins, and then one of those splits yet again into now an identical triplet.
“So not only one split but two splitting to achieve identical triplets is incredibly rare.”
The ‘one in a million’ babies. The identical triplets born in the Rotunda yesterday.... Zach, Max, Kyle Ryan. More on @rtenews pic.twitter.com/NwwRl3bG3R
— Conor Hunt (@conorfhunt) January 2, 2020
All three are said to be healthy and progressing well, with Ms Byrne-Ryan revealing to RTÉ that the pregnancy had been unexpected.
“We got married at the end of April and went on honeymoon to Dubrovnik in May, and where most people come back with fridge magnets, myself and David brought home triplets.
“So we were in shock about that and we didn’t even know we were having them obviously until I had a bit of a bleed nine or ten weeks in and we came into the hospital and we found out then.
“Then it was even more of a shock to find out they were identical. We found out later down the line that they were identical – I think it was maybe three or four months.”
Annmarie added that they were also “baffled” by the news given that she had an operation when she was 18 that saw one of her ovaries removed.
She’s nevertheless thrilled and looking forward to the challenging times ahead.
“We’re blessed, absolutely blessed,” she said.
“It’s going to be tough, but we’ve plenty of support from both families so we’ll just have to do it.”
