A mom of identical triplets, recently went viral on TikTok, amassing over 1.8 million views by addressing the question almost everybody asks her.
People are always curious about how she tells her triplets apart, a question Julia Platsman (@theplatsman5) was anxious about herself during pregnancy.
Now her boys are 16 months old, she's confident in her ability to tell them apart.
She doesn't reveal all of the ways she identifies who is who, some things are closely guarded secrets, or "sacred" to her family, as she says.
But in her post she does share a fascinating glimpse into how she and her partner managed the huge challenge of keeping tabs on the triplets after they were born.
Platsman admits that in the early days, it was nearly impossible to tell the boys apart. Looking back at their baby photos, she says: "We don't know who's who in group photos."
One lifesaver she came up with was creating individual folders for each child's photos. This organizational hack, she says, has been a game-changer for ensuring that they can now confidently identify which triplet is in which photo, for future reference.
According to the CDC, the triplet and higher-order multiple birth rate has declined significantly over the past two decades. From 1998 to 2023, the rate of triplet and higher-order multiple births fell by 62 percent from 193.5 per 100,000 total births to 73.8.
This decline, which began around 2009, highlights how rare such births have become in recent years. For families like Platsmans, this means unique challenges and extraordinary efforts to ensure that each child is seen as an individual.
In the October 17 video, which has gathered over 60,000 likes, Platsman explains that, during their early months, she and her partner came up with a simple system to prevent mix-ups: they would draw a dot on one baby's foot, two dots on another, and leave the third baby's foot blank.
This daily routine helped them easily identify their children. Additionally, they would always place the babies in birth order to minimize confusion.
But, as the boys have grown, the couple no longer need these tricks to tell them apart. Each of the triplets, as Platsman notes, has developed distinct personalities that are now easily recognizable.
Cameron, for instance, is described as goofy, jolly, and funny. Dominic, once called "Danger Dom," has since mellowed into a rule follower who is observant, sweet, tender, and determined. Meanwhile, Bo is described as playful, outgoing, and independent—always happy to go off and do his own thing, and eager to make new friends.
"They can be identical but their souls are all different!" pointed out one user.
Another wrote: "My son went to school with identical triplet girls and they all had a color and would wear the color and a corresponding bow … it works!"
Newsweek reached out to @theplatsman5 for comment via email. We could not verify the details of the case.
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