Estimates vary widely, but the odds of having identical triplets are anywhere in the vicinity of between one in 60,000 to one in 200 million. Identical triplets develop when a sperm fertilizes an egg that then divides into three or two halves—one of which splits again.

Can you have identical triplets naturally?

Identical triplets or quadruplets are very rare and result when the original fertilized egg splits and then one of the resultant cells splits again (for triplets) or, even more rarely, a further split occurs (for quadruplets).

Can triplets be the same gender?

Trizygotic or fraternal triplets can be the same or opposite genders (three boys / three girls / one boy, two girls / two boys, one girl). Triplets can also happen when two separate eggs are fertilized by two different sperm, and one of those eggs splits into two, forming monozygotic (identical) twins.