A slice of three’s three’s company

“Are you Erin?”

“You must be Susie?”

“No? Then who are you?”

“If I had a penny for every time I was asked those questions, I’d be a rich woman,” says Jennifer Dubois, born the first of identical triplets at Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott in May 1966.

The girls’ mother knew they were coming. She was so big the hospital did an X-ray to see whether she was having multiple births.

Even with the development of modern fertility drugs, the chances of having identical triplets (originating from a single egg) have been placed as high as one in every 2 million births. The Dubois’ births were even rarer. They were conceived naturally, went full-term and entered the world naturally with single-birth weights (unusual for multiples) within a span of 30 minutes. Jennifer weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, Erin an ounce heavier and Susie 5 pounds, 5 ounces.

“Erin and I sucked two fingers, and Susie sucked her left thumb,” Jennifer says, “but they still couldn’t tell us apart. They named us A, B and C for the first few weeks and put that on our wristbands.”

Their mom often dressed them alike as babies and toddlers because it was easier to mix and match clothes, but as soon as they were able to, she allowed them to choose what they wanted to wear themselves.

“Mom wanted us to have our own individuality,” says Jennifer, who lives in Lawrence. “But we didn’t have to try because we knew we were different. Most people didn’t make the effort to distinguish us or get to know us individually. They often called us ‘triplet’ and didn’t bother to learn our names.”

They had different comfort blankets but had to share clothes, a room, toys and friends. Sharing birthdays was difficult, as they often had to share presents.

The girls were known to swap classes after they moved to Lawrence in second grade as they attended Centennial School, South Junior High School and Lawrence High School.

“Our teachers never found us out,” Jennifer says.

Once in her early teens, Jennifer was asleep on the sofa when Susie’s boyfriend came in.

“He leaned over, put his arms around me and had his face on mine ready to kiss me. I woke up and screamed,” she laughs. “He nearly had a heart attack.”

They still live in the same area (Susie in Perry, Erin in Lecompton), work in the same business (cleaning), wear the same size in shoes and clothes, like the same music, have similar views on most things, often finish one another’s sentences, and have been known to blurt out the same thought simultaneously.

But though they’re physically identical, their personalities are different.

“Erin’s the most rebellious and daring one,” Jennifer claims. “Susie is more stubborn and adventurous, and I’m the quiet, conservative one.”

The triplets now have seven children, all single births. Jennifer, like Susie, has two boys, and Erin has two girls and a boy.

“Our children have never mixed us up. They just seem to know us instinctively,” Dubois says. “People all over town still get us confused and sometimes they’ll try to convince us we are who they think we are. It’s quite funny at times.”

– Eileen Roddy can be reached at eileenroddy@sunflower.com.