Triplets are, in themselves, rare, but 30-year-old Gladys Lim's babies are further up the rarity stakes: They are identical, and were conceived naturally to boot.

Most triplets are the result of fertility treatments, in which two or more fertilised eggs are planted in the womb.

Ms Lim and her husband Joey Chiew's three sons, however, came from a single egg which split into two. One of the two then divided again, to make three babies.

The couple, who have a 16-month-old daughter, were 'shocked and surprised' when told, eight weeks into the pregnancy, that they were expecting triplets.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.