Becky-Jo, a 23-year-old British citizen, had no idea she would give birth to so many kids so soon in life. The information that her newborn triplets Roan, Roman, and Rocco are exact genetic duplicates caught her by surprise.
When Becky-Jo learned she was expecting triplets, she was shocked because her family had never experienced twin pregnancies. When I found out I was carrying three boys, I was incredibly excited, recalls Becky.
Becky-Jo began to suf.fer from hea.daches and na.usea during the first trimester. For this reason, she had a scan in the second month, which showed a multiple pregnancy. The babies were born at the 31st week by c-section. Roman weighed 1.54 kg, Rocco weighed 1.51 kg, and Roan was the largest at 1.65 kg. “I didn’t expect my triplets to be absolutely identical!” says the mother of identical boys.
It was not only Becky-Jo’s friends and relatives who found it difficult to distinguish the triplets from each other. Even to a young mother, newborns seemed exactly the same. “Everyone around me told me that my children were indistinguishable from each other. At first, it was also difficult for me to find the differences myself, but I never confused my kids,” said Becky in an interview.
Surprised, Becky-Jo decided to test the triplets’ DNA and the results were impressive. It was about one case in 200 million recorded multiple pregnancies – 100% identical DNA was found in children. Despite this fact, Becky has already learned to distinguish between her triplets: “All my babies have a birthmark between their eyebrows. Only in Roman it is noticeably darker than in the others. Roan has another mole on his leg, says the mother of the triplets. After we were discharged, for some reason, no one could distinguish the children from each other.”
The only way to verify the identity of twins is to do a DNA test on the babies. Becki-Jo consulted with the foundation and sent oral s.wabs of newborn boys to the laboratory. This was enough to perform a zy.gosity check and find out that the triplets are genetic copies.
However, identity is only about appearance. The characters of Becky’s kids are different: “Roan is a very loud kid and constantly screams, Rocco is calm, although sometimes irritable, and Roman does not want to share with anyone.” Different characters help a young mother to distinguish between her triplets.
Sister Beki-Jo helps take care of the kids. The dad of triplets doesn’t live with the new mom. Babies need more than 130 diapers a week and 4-5 packs of wet wipes. The washing machine in Becky’s house runs almost non-stop. The eldest daughter Becky, three-year-old Indiana, is also growing in the family.
Today, Becky-Jo is the mother of the smallest genetically identical children who were conceived in a natural way. There are other identical twins in Britain. For example, the mother of the famous triplets Maddison, Fion and Paige distinguishes children using an interesting method. She paints her kids’ toenails a different color every morning.
