Identical Triplets Take DNA Test Just To Discover The Worrying Truth

Meet the Dahm triplets, Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn. Three ordinary girls who just happen to be identical in every way, from their blonde hair to their blue eyes to their Playboy career to their weddings and family life. Okay, okay. They are different in certain aspects, of course, but at the end of day, they’ve pretty much done everything together.

These small town girls never imagined that one audition for a photo shoot would propel their careers down a successful and fulfilling path. That audition got the Dahm triplets modeling for Playboy – and they got to enjoy all the perks that come with such a glamorous lifestyle. In fact, they actually would become the second set of triplets in the United States edition to feature in Playboy. Now that’s impressive! Moreover Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn were also dubbed the “Playboy Playmate of the Month” in December 1998 – that’s quite the achievement for these three. However the success didn’t stop there.

While the Dahm triplets would go on to accomplish many things, together and separately, one thing they can all agree on is that they’re all lucky in love. Erica’s husband is one we have to mention, why? Because she married the son of Dr. Phil, Jay McGraw! And yes, this fact does have relevance to what we want to say. McGraw is actually the producer of the TV series The Doctors and he had a genius idea to feature the triplets in various episodes throughout the seasons.

While on The Doctors, the triplets spoke about many issues, such as female fertility and pregnancy issues. Plus, Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn all got pregnant around the same time which led the show to feature an episode where the triplets did an on-screen ultrasound! That’s got to be pretty cool. Identical triplets who all happen to get pregnant a month apart? And they all go on to have daughters? That’s just wild.

But it’s the wildness that the got team talking – they wanted to find out whether DNA and ancestry tests were at all reliable. The fact that there was an opportunity to test identical triplets, something that has never done before, it was an incredibly significant opportunity. Here’s the thing though, no one could have ever anticipated the results to reveal what they did. Everyone from the audience to the presenters to the triplets were floored by what the tests revealed. I mean, when you have identical triplets, you’d expect the results to all come back the same, or close to it. However that just wasn’t the case.

We’re going to start this journey from the very beginning for the Dahm triplets; from small towns to Hollywood fame to one incredibly weird day in March 2017 which forever changed their lives. Come along with us and prepare to feel all the emotions.

The Dahm Triplets

Born on December 12th, 1977, Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn – and yes, born in that order – are more commonly known as the Dahm triplets. As far as triplets go, these three definitely look alike what with their blonde hair and blue eyes.

Tell Me Apart

In order for their parents to easily tell them apart when they were babies, they tattooed little black ink dots onto their buttocks! Nicole has one dot, Erica has two, and Jaclyn has none. Quite the technique, wouldn’t you say?

Small Town

Jordan, Minnesota is a very small town but that’s where the Triplets were raised. In this small town, they attended Jordan’s public schools as well. Of course everyone knew who they were, it wasn’t hard, considering the population of Jordan is around 5,000. It’s not common for triplets, identical triplets mind you, to go unnoticed in a small town.

You Three

Nicole once said during an interview with Playboy magazine, “We rarely hold our own identity. We were always known as ‘You three’ or ‘The Triplets.’” With matching outfits and the same friends, the triplets did everything together. Instead of having intense arguments, they remained really, really close.

Downside

Of course there are downsides to being triplets, if you can believe it. Jaclyn said that especially, “Privacy is not easy to find. Growing up, we shared everything, even a bedroom. And people always ask, “Which one are you?”

Teen Models

At the age of 16, the Triplets appeared on the front cover of ‘Teen Magazine’ after they won the Great Model Search. Like we said, blonde hair and blue eyes doesn’t go unnoticed…especially when its times three.

Nurses

With a little modeling behind them, the Dahm triplets actually enrolled to the nursing program at the University of Minnesota. They even hoped to work at the same hospital one day! However it was on this college campus that the Triplets saw an advertisement for Playboy. They were looking for models to include in their: “Girls of the Big Ten Special Edition.”

Daddy Says

Furthermore, if you can believe, it was actually their father who suggested they all go for the photo-shoot! No way he could have known just how much that would help his daughter’s futures.

Test Shoot

Not once did the Triplets believe their lives would change so drastically. In a test shoot, the tree decided together that they would in fact strip down for Playboy and became the second set of triplets to feature in the United States edition of Playboy.

Never Ever

Now it was quite the risque decision for the Dahm triplets to go ahead and de-robe for Playboy, furthermore it was a decision not taken lightly. After all, the three weren’t thinking of a modeling career! Jaclyn even went on to tell Playboy during a 1998 interview that they “would never have done this (modeled for Playboy) as individuals.”

Upside

We mentioned downsides to being triplets but there are also some pretty sweet upsides! For instance, Jaclyn said, “We each can tell what the other two are thinking without their saying anything.” While Erica believes that the three can create an instant party when together. Sounds pretty cool to us!

Yes, You

Oh yes, Jaclyn, Erica, and Nicole were actually named the “Playboy Playmate of the Month” back in December 1998. Crazy!

Entertainment World

After the three appeared in Playboy, tons of new and big opportunities presented themselves. Erica even said that Playboy changed all three of their lives, that she “wouldn’t change anything for the world and it was an ‘amazing experience’.” Subsequently, Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn all dropped out of nursing school and instead pursued a career in the entertainment world.

Restaurant Life

After Nicole had her second child, she needed a change. So she told her husband, “I feel like my brain cells are turning to mush. All I do is baby talk and play on the floor.” Luckily her husband owns real estate right in downtown San Diego so he pushed her to launch her own restaurant! Therefore, she stepped up and opened “Lucky Bastard Saloon” back in 2013. “I never dreamt it would be this much work,” she says. “I’ve learned five years of running a restaurant experience in six months. I do most of the marketing, advertising and hiring. I designed the logo. I book all the bands. I’m pretty hands-on. I’m busier than I ever though I’d be.”

Keep It In The Family

In an interview with Playboy in 2014, Nicole said she hopes to open some more “Lucky Bastard” locations and turn it into a franchise. Furthermore, she hopes to work with her sisters to open their very own restaurant in Los Angeles and maybe even start a reality show which follows the Dahm Triplets running a restaurant chain.

Opportunities Always

Look the Dahm Triplets still can’t believe all the opportunities they’ve been presented with ever since that Playboy test shoot. They’ve said, “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 Background

During a 2014 interview with Playboy, the Dahm Triplets were asked if they create a frenzy where they go, but the answer was surprising actually! Nicole replied to the interviewer, “If we do, we don’t notice it.” While Jaclyn pitched in and said, “We try to fade into the background. We’re actually quiet and kind of shy.” Hmm!

TV Life

While in Hollywood, the Dahm triplets even had guest appearances on several television shows, like Boy Meets World. Furthermore, the three along with their father and older sister were on an episode of Family Feud, where they even won $10,000.

Triple Tattoo

Yup, the Dahm Triplets each have a tattoo on the inside of their wrist, which symbolize the three of them. Nicole once explained that their tattoos symbolize, “We came from one egg that was split into three. We wanted to symbolize how close we are.”

Lover Boy

After they won an episode of House Wars, they landed a role on the reality series, Renovate My Family. The host of the show was Dr. Phil’s son, Jay McGraw, and he was quickly smitten with Erica. In fact, Erica even said that, “it was love at first sight.”

Wedding Bells

Moreover Jay and Erica literally had just the most perfect wedding back in August 2006 and at Dr. Phil ‘s home in Beverly Hills. Plus, the couple wrote their own vows with 400 guests to celebrate with on their most special day. Dr. Phil’s wife, Robin, went on to say that emotions ran high after she saw Phil tearing up, which then led to her cry “tears of joy.”

The Question

Welp, Jay McGraw gossiped about how he popped the question to Erica during none other an episode of Dr. Phil. He took Erica to Dallas, Texas, got down on the traditional one knee and “asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.” Cute! Oh yeah, don’t forget that the ring is stunning five-carat platinum, with diamonds and two green emeralds.

I Do!

Of course Erica’s sisters were bridesmaids, that’s basically a given. Furthermore, the bridesmaid dresses were designed by Bradley Bayou while Erica donned a stunning Chado Ralph Rucci gown, which was designed specifically for her.

Dr. Phil

Yup, Dr. Phil loves his grandchildren and he definitely adores Erica. In fact, he was also the best man to Jay which is just sweet. Furthermore Jay even said on Dr. Phil that he believes his parents “love her [Erica] almost as much as I do.”

The Doctors

As the producer of The Doctors, Jay McGraw had the triplets appear on the show numerous times where they spoke about various topics, such as female fertility and pregnancy issues. Understandably, the audience loved them! Then one day, the producers had a genius idea, one that would get some killer ratings.

Nice To Meet You

That chance meeting with Jay McGraw is actually what led the Dahm sisters to their incredibly surprising DNA test results. Dr. Phil, as we mentioned, is an executive producers on the show The Doctors, where all kinds of medical issues are discussed between a panel of doctors. Now and again, the show features celebrities who talk about their own medical issues, provide opinions and discussion.

Baby Bump

While on The Doctors, the triplets were the subject of a modern day medical phenomenon as they were all pregnant at the same time! Nicole gave birth in January 2010, Erica in March 2010, and Jaclyn in February 2010. That’s not the only crazy thing, all three gave birth to daughters!

Mom Life

Jaclyn went on to tell Playboy how their pregnancies really were a triplet thing, “it must be that triplet bond.” She said then they were all lucky and fortunate. The Doctors then phoned up the three in March 2017 with the intriguing idea they had from way back in 2010.

Mom Bod

So after their first babies, the Dahm Triplets also produced and starred in a workout video called “3, 2, 1…Get Your Body Back,” in order to help other new moms who wanted to get back into shape. Furthermore, they also created their very own baby blanket line, “Triplets Paisley,” for the company Swaddle Designs.

More To Come

If you’d like to see the Dahm Triplets in their most recent role on television then watch Relic Hunter. It’s a Canadian show about people who try to return important artifacts to museums. Furthermore, they’ve all said they would love to feature in Playboy again!

Let’s Eat

That’s right, the Dahm Triplets can cook well too! In fact, they have very own YouTube channel where they teach viewers how to do many of their recipes. Check our their channel TripletsGorumet if you’re in need of some new recipes, or head over to their bakery.

Idea Gets Pitched

Basically the idea was to bring in Lisa Guerrero, a journalist from Inside Edition, to explore whether DNA and ancestry tests were reliable. With the opportunity to test identical triplets, something never done before, it was a pretty significant opportunity. However no one could have ever anticipated the results to reveal what they did.

Popular

Recently at-home DNA and ancestry tests have become insanely popular as people are rather intrigued to discover where they come from and more about just who they are. Companies like 23andMe and Ancestry offer people this very opportunity. Most DNA tests can be conducted at home and are reasonably priced.

Done!

The DNA test involves a saliva kit which arrives in your mailbox no less. These companies can decode your DNA in order to find out more regarding your heritage, at times they can ever track down “long lost relatives”. So Nicole, Erica, and Jaclyn each provided their saliva sample, shipped it, and waited for their results.

The Science

Now the triplets all share identical genetic information, moreover common knowledge suggests that their DNA should match. Although there are some environmental factors that could switch certain genes throughout a twin’s lifetime. However the DNA itself really shouldn’t differ so much for the sisters at all.

Waiting Game

In just a couple weeks and the DNA test results were ready! As the Dahm triplets are identical, then all three should have identical DNA as well. But Lisa Guerrero, the journalist from Inside Edition, was skeptical about the results the at-home test kits produces and was eager for the results to be presented live on The Doctors.

Interesting

We do have to mention this though. Initially Lisa Guerrero was skeptical of the at-home genetic tests but because of the results on the show, she was curious to take the test herself. She admitted that why the tests aren’t totally advanced, they do offer an interesting perspective into one’s DNA, genetics, and ancestry.

Moving On

Lisa said she would most likely pay a lot more money to a doctor to get her results after the at-home test. There are plenty of people out there who are terribly curious as to who they are and where they came from. It’s human nature after all.

Who Could Have Thought?

Back when Erica, Nicole, and Jaclyn first landed that Playboy job, they would expected they’d be where they are today. Taking a DNA test for a very popular show, waiting for test results to prove or disprove just how identical the three really are. They were just small town girls from Minnesota, and now they’re on The Doctors couch waiting to uncover more about their DNA.

Fascination

Now the Dahm triplets had planned to become nurses, so the fascination with genetics and biology was already there. Plus they wanted to help improve the genetic testing system, but they never thought their DNA test results would be so crazy.

No Surprise There

So when the first results were revealed, no one was really surprised, not the triplets or the viewers. The DNA test revealed all three were in fact, identical. Moreover, the triplets even said they have similar fingerprints – in fact, Erica can open Nicole’s safe as their fingerprints are almost identical. However what the second test showed no one expected.

The Story Changes

The second test, if you remember, were uncover the triplets ancestry so they could learn more about their ethnicity. Like where they come from and such. However what the second test revealed surprised absolutely everyone.

Same, Right?

“How would you feel if your ancestry was different?” asked Travis Stork, MD, who is the host of The Doctors, of the Dahm triplets. “I don’t know how that could happen,” answered Nicole. “We’re one egg that split, and we all came out of our mother, so maybe a little different DNA, but we still have the same ancestry, right?” That is the question, now isn’t it?

No Way

Nicole does expect to find some differences in DNA from her and her sisters. Although she could just be referring to environmental effects on genetic expression or maybe she’s hinting at something deeper. Either way, the triplets are sure that they’ll share the exact same ancestral background.

Gets Weirder

The basics of the second test went on to show that the triplets were all 99% European. Okay, so all are identical so far. However, as they broke down the DNA more, things got weird. Erica was discovered to be 16% Irish and British, while Nicole was actually 2% MORE Irish and British. As the results continued, the triplets, doctors, and audience got even more confused.

Wait, What

Then the 23andMe test went on to show that all three did not actually have the same percentage of French and German heritage; Nicole at 11%, Jaclyn at 18%, and Erica 22.3%. No one could understand how the triplets, with identical DNA, could have such different ancestry! Furthermore, the next numbers had everyone’s jaws on the floor.

Doesn’t Add Up

When it got to the Scandinavian results of the test, there were more startling discrepancies. While Erica and Jaclyn both had the exact same percentage of 7.4%, it was Nicole’s number that proved the most crazy. The test showed that Nicole was 11.4% Scandinavian, which is near 4% more than her younger sisters. No one could understand the results!

What Do You Think?

“So, we found a few discrepancies,” Guerrero said “Dr. Travis, what does that say to you? When you look at the fact that they’re identical triplets, what is your takeaway from these tests?” But even Dr. Travis had to take a minute to answer.

Questions

First of all, none of the triplets could hide their shocked reactions as it honestly made no sense. Nicole even said that she was completely surprised; I mean they did all came from the exact same egg and have the exact same DNA. That’s exactly what the first test proved. Dr. Travis Stork, the host of The Doctors, then admitted that these home-tests are more of an “entertainment” and are not used to prove real evidence of your heritage. “I’m not a geneticist,” he said. “But I love the idea of these at-home tests for fun.”

Piping Up

A spokesperson for 23andMe also said, “We offer genetic health risk reports and carrier status reports that are authorized by the FDA. If you choose, you can learn about how your genetics influences your risk for certain diseases and or whether you are a carrier for certain inherited conditions.”

Advancement

Dr. Stork also said that mailed in tests will not be anywhere close to 100% accurate. Furthermore, he admitted that there were always going to be discrepancies in the results, no matter the circumstance. He went on to say, “you can’t just spit in a cup and have every single answer that you are looking for.”

Some Background Finally

HealthyWay reached out to 23andMe so that they could interrupt the triplet’s results. “It’s a misleading story,” a spokesperson told the magazine in an email. “Our Ancestry Composition feature allows you to select varying confidence levels, between 50-90 percent.”

There’s More

“In this case I believe they were changing their confidence levels and making comparisons,” their spokesperson carried on to say. “If you drop to the ‘speculative’ selection, which has a confidence level of 50 percent you are going throw off the comparisons. Even when they did that, there wasn’t that great of a difference.”

And Also…

They carried on to say, “But the higher levels are extremely precise. Any result at the 90 percent level signifies we are highly confident in its accuracy. The lower confidence levels allow you to take a more speculative look at your ancestry breakdown. Making the comparisons at that level didn’t produce much of a difference.”

Accuracy

From what we gather, the ancestry reports can all change depending on the user’s selected confidence level. However the triplets data would have largely been the same. HealthyWay then asked about the actual accuracy of the site’s ancestry data.

Support

“We’ve done a comprehensive evaluation of our algorithm and reference datasets, and are confident in the accuracy of the results we report for customers,” the spokesperson continued on to say. “If we say that a section of DNA is most likely Japanese or Chinese or Korean at one of our higher confidence thresholds, we stand behind it. If we weren’t sure that we could make the distinction, we’d go up a level and say that that DNA reflected ‘East Asian’ ancestry. The information would not be incorrect, simply less specific.”

High School

Back in our high school biology classes, we learned one clear thing, at birth, all identical twins have the exact same DNA. During the 90’s, this was an accepted truth as it made biological sense. Now over time, a siblings’ DNA will change due to epigenetic factors (which we mentioned earlier), but the DNA does all start out identical.

In Recent Times

As certain universities dived deeper with studies on monozygotic twins, they learned something shocking. “What we found are changes on the genetic level, the DNA sequence itself,” Jan Dumanksi, a genetics professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham said.

Private

All of the data is handled carefully by 23andMe so that they can prevent private information from becoming public knowledge. “We use the de-identified, aggregated data, for our research,” they said. “That means we decouple personally identifiable information from genetic information and store them in separate computing environments.” Even though they shared their data live on air, their data remains secure and private.

Awareness

None of the triplets ever expected to get such results but they are proud to raise awareness about these kinds of DNA tests. Life can surely changed for the Dahm triplets since the show and its results, but then again, they have come a seriously long way since their small town days.

Times Two

Currently, the triplets are still just as gorgeous and just as identical but all three also had another child. At slightly different times this time around.

Identical

But did we tell you that the second time around, all three had sons? First Erica, Jaclyn, and Nicole have daughters and now sons! Just goes to show that they really are identical.

Rumor Mill

With their lives very much in the public, tons of rumors float around. Currently, Jay McGraw and Erica are in the middle of divorce rumors, just like Dr. Phil and his wife, Robin. Just comes with the territory though.

Kiddos

So Erica and Jay’s children totally look so much like the both of them, duh. Both daughter and son have blonde hair with blue eyes! Their daughter is named Aver Elizabeth McGraw, while the son is called London Phillip McGraw. Definitely cute names!

Me Too

While Erica and Jay are totally cute, so are Jaclyn and her husband, Billy Dolan. If you follow Jaclyn on social media, you’ll see her constantly gushing over her husband and their children!

Their Website

Up until 2004, the triplets had their own website, www.dahmgirls.com, which featured photos from their Playboy days. After 2004, it was replaced with www.jenx3.com (all the initials of their names j, e, and n), but no nude profiles were shown. Neither site is now active.

Speaking Up

Of the five times they’ve appeared on The Doctor, the Dahm triplets have spoken on many issues. Such as female fertility and pregnancy issues, an on-stage ultrasound exam, preparing for childbirth and delivery, and also breast-feeding and infant issues. It must have been hard to speak of such things on a public forum, but they did so in a heartbeat.

Opportunities

Reflecting back on their lives, the triplets said, “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.” Erica went on to say that best part was having her sisters along for the ride!