Hannah and Tom Hepner recently enjoyed the miracle of having a child, three times over.  According to CBS Sacramento, the Hepners had identical triplets, named Abby, Laurel, and Brin, early last week.  This was a particularly rare occurrence given that the Hepners were not using fertility drugs or undergoing any fertility treatments at the time.  Moreover, multiple births do not run in Hannah’s or Tom’s family, making this an even more unlikely scenario.

The doctor that delivered the triplets at Sutter Memorial Hospital has been delivering babies for 30 years.  He was unable to give a precise statistic as to how rare this occurrence actually was, but said that it was the first time he had handled a case like this in his entire career.  He estimates it’s somewhere between one-in-a-million and one-in-200-million odds.

Multiple births, in general, are not rare in the U.S. because of the use of fertility drugs, in vitro fertilization, and artificial insemination, reports Medline Plus.  The Hepners’ case was rare because they were not using these interventions and multiple births are not common in their family.  Having children after 30 can also increase the likelihood of multiple births.

Years ago, most twins came as a surprise. Now, most women know about a multiple pregnancy early. Women with multiple pregnancies should see their health care providers more often than women who are expecting one baby.  There is a higher risk of complications for the mother and children in the case of multiple births.  Multiple pregnancy babies have a much higher risk of being born prematurely and having a low birth weight. There is also a higher risk of the children developing disabilities. Some women have to go on bed rest to delay labor. Finally, they may deliver by C-section, especially if there are three babies or more.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are thousands of multiple child births in the U.S.  The higher the number of simultaneous children, the rarer the scenario.  Including situations involving fertility drugs or treatments, there are more than 131 thousand twin births, five thousand triplet births, 200 quadruplet births, and 40 births with five or more children.

The Hepners have been staying in the hospital for an extended period of time because of health risks toward the end of the pregnancy.  In a few weeks, they will be able to go home and are already doing much better.  The parents are just trying to get mentally prepared for the challenge ahead, putting off any plans for more children.