Three cheers as triplets get together for birthday bash

THEY have spent years confusing teachers and tricking boyfriends with their identical appearance.

Life has never been ordinary for the three Elvin sisters from Portobello who, in 1981, became the first triplets born at Edinburgh's Eastern General Hospital for ten years. Lyndsay, Lea-anne and Lorna featured in the Evening News as babies when their mother Elaine couldn't track down a three-seater pram.

One of our readers stepped in to help out, but such was the interest in the young girls - who wore coloured ribbons in their hair to tell them apart - that they featured again on their first day of school.

Now the triplets are all working in Edinburgh, and are planning to move in together next year.

Yesterday, Lyndsay contacted the News to ask us to photograph her and her sisters side-by-side - to celebrate their 25th birthday - just like we did in 1981.

"We've always been really close and Lea-anne and Lorna are my two best friends in the world," said Lyndsay.

"There is a tight bond between us, but we are individuals with different personalities.

"We're all meeting up for a big party on our birthday this Saturday at the family home in Portobello, then we'll be heading into town."

Lorna is the eldest of the three sisters, followed by Lea-anne and then Lyndsay, who was born nearly one hour later.

The triplets all attended Brunstane Primary School and Portobello High School, where they regularly got up to mischief.

Lyndsay said Lea-anne often got the blame for her own cheeky behaviour, while Lorna once pretended to be Lyndsay to go on a date with a boy who was attracted to her sister.

Now they are older, it is easier to tell the trio apart because they all have different coloured hair and hairstyles.

Lyndsay said: "We have always been quite different - and we have different friends from school and work.

"We wear different clothes and different styles of make-up, and we never go for the same men.

"But we have our own language that only we can understand - I know exactly what Lea-anne or Lorna is talking about, when everyone else is confused."

She added: "One day recently, Lorna was sitting an exam and she was really worried and nervous about it.

"I had the same butterfly feeling in my stomach, even though I wasn't sitting the exam, so I rang Lea-anne and she had exactly the same feeling for no apparent reason."

Lyndsay is now working in market research and shares a flat on The Shore with Lorna, who is a dental surgery assistant.

Lea-anne lives with her ex-fianc in Portobello, but the nursery nurse is planning to move out soon.

All three sisters are now considering furthering their education by studying for degrees.

Lea-anne said: "We were the first triplets born in the 1980s in Edinburgh, and in those days it was very rare.

"Even though we look different now, people still confuse us in the street and will come up to me and say 'Hi Lyndsay'.

"But it's great being a triplet, because it's not just having two sisters, it's having two best friends as well."