This story about triplets will broaden the meaning you associate with the word ‘identical’.
The Dahm Triplets
The Dahm triplets became famous because of being beautiful and looking exactly like each other. Read on to find out how their life took a life-altering turn in March 2017.
Triplets Nicole, Jaclyn, and Erica were born into the Dahm family on December 12th, 1977. The triplets earned a huge large fan following when they were growing up. Their parents were blessed with three beautiful daughters and brought them everywhere they went.
They turned heads in the public and people admired the triplets for their identical beauty.
Telling Them Apart
It was next to impossible to guess who was whom especially when the triplets were younger. They would cause confusion amongst the parents who had to resort to tattooing a different number of dots on each of the child’s bottoms.
Nicole was the firstborn and was marked with a single dot, Erica second in order was marked with two while Jaclyn had no dot at all. The three were inseparable since birth but the most incredible fact about the triplets is that they had a lot in common.
Small Town Girls
The girls were born in a small town called Jordan, Minnesota and went to the local high school.
They grew up in a place that had less than 30,000 people which is why everyone knew about them. Since they were identically beautiful they caught the attention of modeling agencies who immediately headhunted them.
Everything Together
Often in the case of twins or triplets, each individual takes on different interests and hobbies to mark their unique identity but this was not the case for the Dahm triplets who were as similar in personalities as they were in their looks.
Nicole while interviewing for Playboy magazine said, “We rarely hold our own identity. We were always known as ‘You three’ or ‘The Triplets.”
They all wore identical clothes, hung out with the same group of people and played with similar toys. You would think this would lead to a lot of fights between them but these three stuck through each other no matter what.
Teen Models
Modeling gigs came easy for the triplets and they were pursued by agencies who wanted to triple the power. When they were only 16 they appeared on the front cover of Teen Magazine featured as the winners of the Great Model Search.
They were seen staring at you with the piercing blue eyes and sleek blond hair and it was evident why everyone was fascinated by them. This was their entry into the world of modeling and soon they would find themselves in the biggest magazines there is.
Nursing School
Although they were featured as models while still in high school they did not go down that career path. The three girls joined the nursing school at the University of Minnesota. Just like every other aspect of their life, all three shared the same passion and it was their dream to work together as nurses.
They came across the flier for the Playboy magazine looking for models as part of the “Girls of the Big Ten Special Edition” while they were on campus.
Test Shoot
Jaclyn, Erica, and Nicole would never have dreamed that this modeling shoot would change their life. When they went for an audition, the casting agent for Playboy immediately realized the gorgeous triplets had a special spark and called them up for a test photoshoot.
However, the decision of whether or not they were comfortable going nude for such a big magazine was up to them. After a lot of discussion and deliberation, the Dahm triplets decided to accept the offers for becoming the first triplets to be featured as the centerfold for Playboy magazine.
Never Would Have Done It Alone
The decision to disrobe for Playboy was did not come easy to the sisters especially because they did not want to pursue modeling as a full-time career. Jaclyn told Playboy in an interview in 1998 that they “would never have done this (modeled for Playboy) as individuals.”
However, because they were in it together it felt less threatening. They never thought that this modeling contract would lead to a DNA test result that would shock them to their core.
Change of Direction
After their Playboy centerfold, the Dahm sisters’ life changed forever and now they were exposed to so many more opportunities. Erica once told Playboy Magazine that being featured in it was the beginning of the triplets’ new lives.
The three dropped out of college soon after and planned to join the entertainment industry.
TV Appearances
Unlike others who are often welcomed by the world of rejection when they go to LA the Dahm triplets were a force to be reckoned with and they were quickly invited for roles in TV shows such as Boy Meets World where they were the 3 beautiful women who lived together in a dorm room near Eric and Jack’s.
The girls were typecast as the ‘drop dead gorgeous triplets’. They also won $10,000 on a Family Feud episode where they appeared with their older sister and father.
Renovate My Family
Opportunities came knocking on the girls’ door. The sisters were signed up for a reality TV series by Fox called ‘Renovate My Family’. This show would then alter their lives and they wouldn’t even realize it. The show was hosted by Jay McGraw, the famous Dr. Phil’s son.
Jay immediately took a liking to Erica and she felt the same way. He soon found himself knocking on her trailer door asking her out to the movies. Erica later said it was love at first sight.
Meet the Doctors
The Dah m triplets’ meeting with Jay McGraw would be the event that led to their surprising DNA test results. Jay’s father, Dr. Phil, was also the executive producer on a show called The Doctors. It is a series where a panel of doctors discuss different medical issues on screen.
Once in a while, a celebrity makes an appearance on the show to discuss their personal medical problems and provide insight into the matter.
Triplet Health
Erica and Jay married each other in 2006. He was soon struck with the idea of inviting the sisters on The Doctors to discuss their health and lives being identical triplets. Erica, Nicole, and Jaclyn became regulars on the show and discussed everything about their medical similarities as well as trying to get pregnant.
These discussions gave birth to a brilliant idea in the doctor's head.
Expanding the Family
The triplets’ appearances on the show boosted its ratings and helped the producers make a fortune. However, the show really skyrocketed when the three identical sisters got pregnant at the same time. during the winter of 2009-2010, each of them announced their pregnancies.
As it was predicted, people were fascinated by the pregnancies and wanted to know more about the triplets that were so in sync.
Triple Pregnancy
The Dahm sisters went into labor within a few weeks of each other and they all gave birth to beautiful baby girls. This was another medical phenomenon that Jaclyn explained to Playboy as “that triplet bond”.
The three felt lucky and fortunate to have each other and their babies. The triplets took some time off to settle down into their roles as mothers and in March 2017 a very interesting ides was pitched to them.
Pitching the Idea
The Doctors approached the Dahm triplets at the beginning of 2017 to pitch their novel idea. They were going to invite a journalist Lisa Guerrero to investigate the reliability of DNA and ancestry tests.
No one had tested the kits on identical triplets yet who had very similar DNA but they never expected the results the tests would bring for them.
Popular DNA Tests
At-home DNA test kits became a raging phenomenon in recent times. People do not mind paying to find out more about their background and where they originate from. One of the most popular companies for DNA testing, 23andMe provided insight into the ancestry giving a percentage for the different ethnicities we have in our DNA.
The DNA tests can be performed at home with a simple procedure at a reasonable price.
Taking the Test
The DNA test has a few components that make it up. You have to extract a sample of your saliva and send it to the company that decodes your DNA and provides information about your heritage.
The triplets used the kits but they did not know that the results would shock them and the world forever.
Waiting for Results
The results of the DNA tests take some time to prepare and the triplets got impatient waiting for theirs. Since they were identical in every other way, they expected their DNA to look the same.
However, journalist Lisa Guerrero expressed her doubts about the accuracy of the home kits and was curious to see if the triplets' results would prove her right on a live episode of The Doctors.
Never in a Million Years
At that moment, the three girls could not believe how far they had come from their small town of Minnesota. They were now sitting on the set of The Doctors waiting for their DNA test results to be revealed on live television.
Erica, Jaclyn, and Nicole began this journey as models for Playboy Magazine.
Fascinated by DNA
Because the Dahm triplets once wanted to be nurses they were genuinely interested in knowing about their genetics. They were excited to be part of a medical investigation to check the genuineness of the DNA test results.
The test results would be sent back by 23andME, and they would definitely not be what anyone had expected.
Pretty Identical
The first round of results was exactly as predicted by experts and the audience. The triplets were completely identical and more than that Erica and Nicole had almost identical fingerprints and could unlock the fingerprint lock on each other’s safety scanner.
Their similarities could even fool technology and the DNA results proved they were indeed identical triplets but there was more.
Tracing Ancestors
The second part of the results included their ancestry and would reveal which ethnicities their ancestors belonged to.
Since it was proved they were identical through the first part of the results everyone expected these to show they were identical too. However, what they revealed left everyone shocked beyond belief.
A Slight Discrepancy
The basic test results showed that all three of the girls were 99% European which did not come as a surprise. But the breakdown of the heritage is where things got a little weird. Erica, for example, was 16% British and Irish while Nicole was 18% British and Irish.
This did not fall in line with them being identical. As more of the details were revealed, the triplets, doctors, and audience became even more confused.
Even Bigger Gaps
The DNA results showed that there were certain differences in the heritage of the ‘identical’ triplets. The 23andMe test revealed all three of the girls had a different percentage of German and French hereditary.
Nicole was at 11%, Jaclyn was 18% and Erica at 22.3%. There was something off about these varying numbers and no one could make sense of it.
Not Adding Up
There was an even bigger gap in the Scandinavian part of the results which showed that while Erica and Jaclyn were both 7.4% Scandinavian, Nicole was not. The third twin according to 23andMe was 11.4% Scandinavian.
The sisters and experts could not wrap their head around only one triplet being 4% more Scandinavian than her identical triplets. The viewers were also blown away by these odd results.
It’s Impossible
Everyone was shocked because the triplets were born of the same egg and should have the exact same DNA. One of the experts on the panel of The Doctors, Dr. Travis Stork expressed his doubts over the results and the at-home DNA testing kits.
He maintained that these DNA tests are only for your ‘entertainment’ and their results should always be taken lightly and not as accurate medical evidence of your ancestry.
Not 100% Accurate
Dr. Stork further explained his views by saying, “you can’t just spit in a cup and have every single answer that you are looking for.” He wanted to make the Dahm triplets and audience understand that the tests sent to you by these companies are not very advanced and they cannot be 100% accurate.
Lisa Guerrero was skeptical about their accuracy from the very beginning. Does that mean that the at-home DNA testing kits were being dismissed by these two professionals?
Test #2
Although Guerrero had her doubts about the accuracy of the tests she was also curious to know more. She admitted she wanted to try the kit out for herself and see what her tests result contained.
The journalist knew she had Latin ancestry from her mother’s side and her father was of English descent but she was not sure about the percentages. The tests “piqued my curiosity” claimed the journalist.
Take a Better Test
Even though Lisa was interested in the DNA test results she said she would not try the ones by 23andMe and invest in a more advanced testing system which is supervised by doctors. These are supposed to be more accurate than the other do-it-yourself kits which the triplets used.
The only reason for the popularity of these kits was that everyone wanted to know where they came from and what was their complete family background.
What Now?
Even though the test results shocked the Dahm sisters they were happy about the fact that they could raise awareness on the accuracy of the DNA testing kits.
The three sisters had made a long journey from getting featured in Playboy Magazine to having their DNA discussed on live television. The ladies, however, moved on with their lives.
More Babies
The Dahm triplets are still identical and drop-dead gorgeous. They continue with the trend of doing everything together. After they gave birth to girls close to each other, each one of the triplets also had their sons born during the same season. Imagine that!
All three of the triplets married and with a daughter and son of the same age! The DNA test results were irrelevant because they were identical in every single way.
Rumors of Divorce
As it is the case with celebrities there is gossip and rumors which can often be hurtful.
One of the rumors was that Erica and Jay McGraw were having trouble in their marriage and considering divorce. Of course, a power couple such as them is constantly in the public eye and each one of their actions is scrutinized by anyone and everyone.
The Perfect Wedding
Jay and Erica got married in 2006 on Dr. Phil and his wife’s property in Beverly Hills. The ceremony was perfect and the pair read out their vows in front of 400 of their closest family and friends.
Robin, Dr. Phil’s wife, admitted she felt emotional and cried “tears of joy” when she noticed her husband tearing up.
Popping the Question
Jay gave the details of how he popped the question to Erica on an episode of Dr. Phil. He was on a trip to Dallas with her when he “asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.”
Jay got down on one knee and presented her with a giant five-carat platinum ring encrusted with diamonds and two matching green emeralds. A gorgeous ring for a gorgeous girl.
Triple Bridesmaids
At the wedding, both of Erica’s sisters were her bridesmaids and they looked beautiful in identical dresses designed by Bradley Bayou. Some guests even commented that the pair of them almost upstaged the bride.
Erica, on the other hand, wore an even more stunning gown designed especially for her by Chado Ralph Rucci. The three of them looked straight out of a fairy tale standing together at the altar on Erica’s special day.
Erica and Jay’s Children
Despite the constant rumors of divorce, Jay and Erica’s social media profiles told a different story. In all their pictures the two looked like they were still crazy in love. They also posted photos of their cute kids; a daughter and a son, the same as her twin sisters.
Their daughter was called Aver Elisabeth and they named their son London Phillip. They are just as adorable as their names.
Father in Law
There is nothing more precious to Dr. Phil than a close-knit family. Jay McGraw’s father was a TV show host and invested in the couple’s life since the very first day. When Jay told his dad that he was in love with Erica and wanted to marry her, Dr. Phil was so excited he even agreed to be the best man at his son’s wedding.
The father-son bond between Dr. Phil and Jay was very strong and Jay’s parents “love her almost as much as I do,” said Jay about their bond with Erica.
Jaclyn’s Husband
Erica was not the only one who got to live her fairytale. Jaclyn also found her dream man in her husband Billy Dolan.
The couple also shares pictures of their family on social media and can always be seen going on family vacations with Jay and Erica.
All Those Opportunities
The three women who are now wives to loving husbands and mothers to adorable children are still in awe of the number of opportunities they were presented with.
“It’s something you never experience when you’re from a small town of 2,000 people, and all of a sudden you’re in a magazine all around the world,” the three reminisced in an interview. Erica was most thankful for sharing this journey with her sisters.
Reality-TV
Ever since they catapulted to fame from their photoshoot for Playboy, each one of the twins has made appearances on reality TV shows which the public really enjoyed. They recently came on the Canadian TV show, Relic Hunter, where people attempt to recover important artifacts for museums.
The triplets are also open to the idea of appearing in Playboy magazine once again, the gig that started it all.
A Talented Trio
The sisters did not only conquer the world of modeling and TV but have also made it to other avenues.
