‘One in a Million’ Identical Triplets Born to Kansas Parents

A Kansas couple is celebrating after welcoming a rare set of identical triplets into the world said to be “one in a million.”

On Thursday, Feb. 22, Nicole and Caleb Choge welcomed their sons Ron, Elkanah and Abishai Choge into the world at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, ABC News reports.

The triplets, born just minutes apart and six weeks premature and ranging in weight from 3.4 pounds to 4.5 pounds, are said to be “one in a million,” with identical triplets only occurring about 20 or 30 times in a million births.

The Choges, who met while Caleb was training to be a pilot at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida and later married and lived in Kenya for three years, came back to the United States after a sonogram revealed that they were expecting triplets.

“We had a scan in Kenya and they found twins the first time. We went a second time to be sure and they found triplets. We came to the States to get a third opinion to be sure,” Caleb said. “It was very shocking, very surprising. Both exciting and scary.”

The couple, who already have a 2-year-old son together, said that they had been praying for a second child, though they admit that having three newborns along with a toddler at home will be a challenge.

“Getting three boys and relocating countries is quite a challenge. We know it will work out. We are not anxious. Things will work out and we will be with our boys and be able to care for them,” Caleb said.

The triplets are currently being cared for in the NICU, where the current focus is on maintaining their body temperatures so that they can use the calories they consume to grow. The babies are also working on feeding orally rather than through IVs, Dr. Joshua Petrikin, NICU director at Truman Medical Centers and a neonatologist at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, said. Doctors believe that the Choges may be able to take two of their sons him this week.