Three brothers celebrate unique shared birthday with three-tiered cake

Emma Smith and her partner Dave, who live in Sandymoor, have welcomed not one, not two, but three baby boys into the world on June 20 – in 2016, 2019 and 2023.

And all three of the Smith boys will be waking up today ready to celebrate their birthdays.

Alfie James was born on Monday, June 20, 2016 – a much longed for rainbow baby.

Exactly three years later, on Thursday, June 20, 2019 – and Alfie’s third birthday – Jesse Joe made an appearance.

And then last summer, on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, Arley Jay arrived on his older brothers’ 7th and 4th birthdays.

What are the chances?

Dave and Emma welcomed their third little boy on June 20 last year(Heather Elizabeth Photography)

The boys are all celebrating their birthdays today, something which parents Emma Smith and her partner Dave describe as a second Christmas.

Emma, who is 43, said: “It takes a lot of planning to organise your child’s birthday and we have three on the same day!

“It’s like having a second Christmas each year with two birthdays on the same day and now we have three to celebrate.

“We’re going to make it such a special day for them all.

“Alfie has asked for a trip to the cinema with Jesse to watch the new Inside Out 2 film after school and on Sunday, we’re all going to Chill Factore near The Trafford Centre for a party.

“It’s a rainbow themed party – all three boys are rainbow babies – and we’ve got a wedding style three-tiered birthday cake!”

She added: “I think this will be the last ‘low key’ party we have as the boys will no doubt want to invite everyone in their class at school to their birthday parties in the next few years.

“That would be 90 children so we need to prepare ourselves for that.

“Looking to the future, we will have a 21st birthday and an 18th on the same day – we’d better get saving!”

Alfie, Jesse and Arley Smith (Heather Elizabeth Photography)

Emma has suffered from endometriosis for 30 years and despite undergoing ten operations has never been free from the disease.

Doctors warned her and Dave that their chances of conceiving were extremely poor but Emma says they’re “pleased to have proved them wrong in such an amazing way”.

The couple were given different due dates for all three boys but they all decided to make an appearance on June 20.

Emma said: “Numerology comes into play with mine and Dave’s birthdays as well because my birthday is May 9 and Dave’s is May 11.

“Nine and 11 make 20, so I always say that me plus Dave equals the boys.”

Emma and Dave recently got engaged – on May 20 – and are planning to hold their upcoming wedding on the 20th of an as yet undisclosed month next year.

Nobody can believe that Emma and Dave had two sons on the same day and their story went viral last year when their third baby was also born on June 20.

News of their unique deliveries travelled around the world and they featured in newspapers and magazines throughout the summer.

Emma said: “One reader commented on our story in the New York Post and she called the boys ‘time triplets’.

“I think that’s a lovely way to describe their unique birthday celebrations – they will always be our ‘time triplets’.”

Three brothers celebrate unique shared birthday with three-tiered cake EXCITEMENT levels will be through the roof in the Smith house today as three brothers celebrate their birthday – all on the same day. Emma Smith and her partner Dave, who live

The odds of three babies being born on the same day is one in 133,000, which takes into account the second baby arriving on the first baby’s birthday – 1 in 365 - and then the third baby arriving on the same day again – 1 in 365.

One in 133,000 is roughly eight in a million.

It’s only when you factor in the boys being brothers and members of the same family that the odds become longer and harder to calculate.

The Guinness Book of World Records features the Cummins family in Virginia, USA, who had five children all born on the same day.

Catherine, Carol, Charles, Claudia and Cecilia were all born on February 20, but in different years.

When entered into the records the family was described as ‘the only verified record of a family producing five single children with the same date of birth.’

The record-keepers in 1977 estimated odds of that happening as 17.7 billion to 1.

Since then, the Mangi family has come forward with nine members of the same family sharing the same birthday – August 1.

Parents Ameer Ali and Khudeja, who live in Pakistan, have Sindhoo, twins Sasui and Sapna, twins Ammar and Ahmas, Aamir and Ambar.

The couple also chose to get married on their shared birthday in 1991 so celebrate their wedding anniversary on August 1 as well.

Do you share a birthday with members of your family? Were you and your best friend born on the same day?

Email heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk to share your story.