Mum has triple twin surprise

Mrs Hayman's scan only revealed one baby

A Devon mother has defied odds of more than 500,000-1 to give birth to her third set of twins.

Lillian Hayman, 34, from Exeter, gave birth to non-identical twin girls at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital on Tuesday 9 October.

She is only the second woman in Britain who is known to have had three sets.

The twins, Michaela and Samantha, who weighed 6lbs 4oz and 5lbs 1oz, also share their birthday with their brothers, Robert and John, who were born exactly 14 years earlier.

At this rate, we'll need a coach to take them all out together

Lillian Hayman

Nick Fairclough, spokesman for the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, told BBC News Online that the hospital was glad to have been involved with such a special event.

He said: "It is extremely rare, but we are delighted for Mrs Hayman. All of her children have been born at this hospital so we feel we know the family very well. Everybody is over the moon."

The likelihood of a mother having twins has increased in recent years because of the increased use of fertility treatment. However, all of Mrs Hayman's children have been conceived naturally.

Nick Fairclough said: "The odds against one set of twins is about 82-1, so if you take that into account for a second and third set, it is quite incredible."

In fact, the final figure for the odds against three sets of twins is around 512,000-1.

Big family

For Mrs Hayman it was even more of a surprise because her scans had only shown one child.

Her first twins, Robert and John, were born in 1987. They were followed by Alison and Richard in May 1990.

Daughter Bethany, born in March 1996, is the only one of Lillian's seven children not to have a twin.

Mrs Hayman says she has no idea why she keeps having twins but is overjoyed by the latest deliveries.

She also points out that the now larger family also presents some unique logistical difficulties.

She said: "At this rate, we'll need a coach to take them all out together."

Under review

The girls' father, highways engineer Shaun Hurley, 34, has said he is the "happiest man in the world", though he is still trying to figure out how to keep the family under one roof.

He said: "We'll be a bit short of room. But I'm sure we'll manage. We all get on very well and we're looking forward to taking the twins home."