BRITAIN'S first "test-tube baby" triplets are to meet the man who helped their mother and father to conceive more than 16 years ago.

Anne Ma'aye, lives in Haxby, York, with her daughter, Nourah, and two sons Khalil and Khaled.

The triplets were born in 1984 after her infertility was treated by the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) programme, under the care of Professor Ian Craft at the London Fertility Centre.

She and her late husband, Adnan, had waited 12 years to have children.

Her sons and daughter - on whom she first laid eyes under a microscope at the centre - are looking forward to meeting the man who was instrumental in their creation.

They will have lunch at Castle Howard tomorrow to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his fertility centre.

Professor Craft is one of the world's leading figures in IVF. He has been responsible for many innovations and breakthroughs in the treatment of fertility including Britain's first IVF twins in 1982 and first egg donor births in 1987.

The triplets, who have just completed their GCSEs at St Peter's School, York, have only met him once, when they were younger, but have spoken to him a couple of times on the telephone.

Nourah said: "The professor is a really bubbly character and is very nice. I think the fertility treatment is weird and fascinating at the same time."

Anne is trying to arrange a visit to the professor's clinic so her children can see how the treatment works.

She said: "The treatment can be very traumatic and is not foolproof, but for me it was obviously worth it. I was told after about eight weeks that I was expecting triplets.

"We wanted one child but ended up getting three, which was more than we bargained for. I think it's miraculous what they can do.

"There's never a dull moment in the house. On their birthdays the children used to have one cake each and I would have to sing 'Happy Birthday' three times!"

Khaled, who supports Arsenal along with his brother and plays rugby, said: "Our best friends are twins so it can get very confusing for people. We played a trick on our physics teacher by swapping round once. Some people at our school don't even know we're triplets.

Khalil said: "To us it's very normal. We all get on very well."

Nourah added: "I used to find sharing things like text books very hard when I was younger but not now."