There can be more ways than one of making news about triplets.
A South African gay couple is the first same-sex pair to become two fathers of three babies. Two of these babies are identical twins.
Theo and Christo Menelaou used their DNA to fertilise one egg each of a surrogate woman.
It was an interesting coincidence that led to the event. The same-sex couple ran into the surrogate woman during the trial of the ex-Paralympian, Oscar Pistorius, who had been their neighbour in Pretoria, South Africa.
The entire arrangement was arrived at and given the sanction of the South African law only after the gay couple, the surrogate woman and her husband signed affidavits declaring that they were willing participants, without any exchange of money, except the inclusion of the costs of the pregnancy.
When the surrogate became pregnant, one of the eggs split, which made her give birth to triplets.
Even though the doctor suggested that they should terminate two of the foetuses, they decided to go ahead with the pregnancy. The triplets---one boy and two girls----were born prematurely in July.
When they were born, Joshua weighed 1.82 kg, Zoe (1.43 kg) and Kate (1.3 kg). They got discharged in a few weeks and then brought the triplets home to Pretoria. They had alarms that checked their breathing. One of the babies might require a heart surgery shortly.
They were placed on breathing apparatus and closely managed until the doctor said they could leave Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg.
Joshua left first on July 22, then Zoe left on Aug 1 and Kate was the last to leave on Aug 4. They also brought two nurses to help the parents.
Perhaps the same-sex couple is the first in South Africa, or the world, to be the father of triplets through a surrogate mother.
Christo Menelaou said: "It's very hard to be accepted for adoption and we were told we would always come after heterosexual couples. And then we just never thought we'd ever find a person who would want to be surrogate to a gay couple."
YouTube/AP
