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A family in Norway has hit the lottery jackpot for the third time in six years — and the wins have so far all coincided with the birth of a new baby.

The latest lucky winner is 19-year-old Tord Oksnes who won 12.2m Norwegian krone (US$2.1 million) last week on the country's national lottery.

Before him, his 26-year-old sister Hege Jeanette had pocketed £882,000 (US$1.4 million) in 2010, only four years after their 58-year-old father Leif won £441,000 (US$712,000) on the same lottery.

The lucky numbers were drawn every time Hege Jeanette was pregnant or had just given birth and two of the births took place within hours of a family member winning.

When asked about the family's secret to winning the jackpot, the lucky mother replied: "Getting pregnant."

Her three other brothers who have yet to win the lottery have begun paying special attention to the size of her stomach, she added.

"They're urging me to have at least 10 children," she said. "Having children is always nice, but it doesn't happen on command. Maybe ..."

A spokesperson for Norsk Tipping, the Norwegian national lottery, warned that the brothers' plan for growing the family fortune by having more babies may not be foolproof.

"I've tried myself twice and I've never won anything," said Roar Joedahl, adding that calculating the probability of one family winning the lottery three times was extremely difficult as there were so many factors to consider.

The Oksnes family, who live near Bergen in southwest Norway, said their winning numbers were chosen by a machine, and that they never used the planned birth dates of the children.

Tord says he will keep his job as a technician in the energy sector and his sister still works at the petrol station where she was before she had her win, although she is currently on maternity leave.

Thanks to hearsetrax for the tip.