The three girls, named Damaris, Aymara and Emily, were born two months earlier in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to their 32-year-old mother Melany Basualdo.
When Melany Basualdo calls her daughters one in a million, she will not be exaggerating.
The 32-year-old gave birth to identical triplets, now almost seven months old, on August 5, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in what doctors say is a rare event.
While most identical triplets are conceived through in vitro fertilization, what makes Basualdo’s case so rare is that she conceived the trio naturally.
The three girls, Damaris, Aymara and Emily, were born 10 weeks early, which is typical in a pregnancy with multiple babies because they are more likely to rupture the protective membranes early.
The girls were born naturally within moments of each other and weighed between 3.4 and 3.11 pounds, compared to the average of 8.6 pounds at birth, although it is common for twins or triplets to be heavier. little ones.
After birth, each baby was given oxygen to support their growing lungs and organs, but they were discharged after a few weeks.
Pictured above is mother Melany (far left) and hospital staff with her three babies. They were on oxygen for a few weeks before they were allowed to return home.
The three girls are “complicated” to care for, their mother said, although they are all “very well behaved.” They are now six months old.
There are two types of multiple pregnancies: fraternal and identical.
Fraternal babies occur when several eggs are fertilized at the same time by different sperm, while identical pregnancies occur when a fertilized egg divides into two or more embryos carrying exactly the same genetic makeup.
In the case of the triplets in Argentina, one of their mother’s eggs was fertilized by a sperm and divided into three embryos.
In the United States, about 4,300 triplets are born each year out of 3.9 million births, equivalent to 0.1 percent of all registered births.
But only a handful of them are identical: in 2015 only four were reported, which is equivalent to one in a million.
Multiples are more common in IVF fertility procedures because more than one embryo is returned to the mother.
Although they are born at only 30 weeks (a full-term pregnancy is considered 39 to 41 weeks), more than 98 percent of babies born at this stage survive because most of their organ systems are already well developed.
Basualdo said taking care of the three girls was “complicated” but that “they behave very well.”
Babies are also small enough to share a crib.
The three girls go through about 15 diapers a day, their mother said, and are currently small enough to sleep in the same crib.
She revealed their births to a local news station. Sitting in the background is her mother Marcela Frías who said that babies are the ‘light of my life’
Mrs Basualdo said: ‘It’s a complicated job, but I’m doing it well. They behave very well.
‘Despite a complicated pregnancy, everything went well and they are healthy.
“I am happy to have them, it is a blessing, an immense pride for me.”
The mother did not detail the complications of her pregnancy, but women who have more children are more likely to face problems such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, a condition that causes high blood pressure and can lead to damage to organ systems such as the kidneys. .
Basualdo’s mother, Marcela Frías, is also delighted with the births and says: “It is the best thing that could have happened to us.”
‘They are the light of my life, I love them with all my soul. Are my life.’
Local reports showed the mother and grandmother smiling as they held the babies for the cameras.
Mrs Basualdo’s story comes after a couple in England were “over the moon” when they had identical triplets in March last year.
The three girls, named Harper-Gwen, Marvella and Evalynn, were conceived naturally and were born nine weeks early at York Hospital.
Jenni Casper, 27, and her husband James, 26, had initially been told they were expecting twins, whose chances are about one in 250.
But the couple said they were left speechless when they discovered at a 12-week scan that they would be having triplets instead.
James, a rubbish collector from Selby, North Yorkshire in England, said the whole situation is a bit “surreal” but “amazing”.
He said: ‘Now we’re home and settled in with them, it’s a bit surreal.
“But we are overwhelmed and they have met their older sisters who are absolutely delighted and very excited.”