After unsuccessfully trying for a baby for eight years, Karen Styles feared she might never conceive.

So imagine her delight when she was told she wasn't having just one baby or even twins - she was pregnant with triplets.

The arrival of Antony, Charlie and Thomas was extra special because they are identical - beating odds of 150,000 to one.

Today Karen and her partner, lorry driver Tony Maynard, will celebrate the first birthday of their sons. Karen, from Brookview, in Copthorne, near Crawley, said: "The last year has flown by. It's the best thing that ever happened to us. We had been trying for so long. I was due to start fertility treatment the month I found out I was pregnant. That was going to be the last go."

Most triplets are one identical pair and one "fraternal" non-identical baby. According to the Multiple Births Foundation at the Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital in London, the odds of three babies coming from one egg are one in 150,000.

Antony, Charlie and Thomas were all born by Caesarean at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill.

Karen had to wait four weeks before she could take them home because they were born premature and had to be kept in incubators.

She said: "Everyone asks me how I cope. I think it's because I never had children before so I've got nothing to compare it with. You just cope.

"I suppose the hardest part was when the boys were feeding constantly through the night and day. It got to the point where I would feed the last one and then I would have to start again.

"On the whole they're well behaved. It's as if they know there are three of them and they've got to be patient."

Karen said she was getting used to balancing her part-time job at a transport office with a waste company and multiple motherhood.

She added: "I initially returned to work full-time. By Christmas I was exhausted.

"I suffer from multiple sclerosis and it brought on a relapse in December so now I work part-time. It's better for me and it means I get to see the boys more.

"Shopping has been a nightmare, though. My weekly bill comes to about £100. About £60 of that is their nappies, food, milk and wipes. But they're worth it."

Antony, Charlie and Thomas were all born by caesarean at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill.

Have you beaten the odds to have identical triplets? Call the newsdesk on 01273 544519 or tell us your stories below.