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With these twins, fame comes in a double helping.
The number of twins born to American women has risen dramatically over the past three decades, a new government study shows.
The twin birth rate rose 76 percent from 1980 through 2009, according to report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that was released Wednesday. While 189 out of every 10,000 births was a twin delivery in 1980, in 2009, 333 out of 10,000 births involved twins.
Put another way, in 2009 one in every 30 babies born in the United States was a twin, as compared to one in every 53 babies born in 1980.
Researchers say that the uptick in twin births is due to both the increased use of infertility treatments and the tendency for women to delay child-birth till they are older.
The increase in twin births is concerning, said the study’s lead author Joyce A. Martin, an epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
“It’s really important to note that outcome for twins is much less positive than for singleton pregnancies,” Martin said. “Twins tend to be born earlier and smaller.. Their mothers are more likely to require hospitalization. And the twins themselves are more likely than singletons to require hospitalization."
But, Martin added, “although they are at greater risk overall, most twin births do very well.”
The rate of twinning isn’t the same all over the country. In New Mexico, for example, 223 out of 10,000 births were twin deliveries. But in Connecticut the number was far higher: 459 out of 10,000 births.
The increases seen by Martin and her colleagues also varied by race and ethnic group. The biggest increase in twins was among white non-Hispanic mothers. For them, the rate of twins doubled over the past three decades.
Interestingly, black women have had a higher rate of twinning all along. Nobody knows why this is, but experts assume it’s mostly explained by genes, just as the tendency to twin seems to run in certain families, said Dr. Joseph Sanfilippo, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and director of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
It’s clear that there are big variations in women’s tendency to have twins, Sanfilippo said. That can be due to genetics and environment. Rates vary widely from country to country, Sanfilippo said. Yoruba has the highest rate with 450 to 500 sets of twins per 10,000, he added.
The big increases Martin and her colleagues have seen in the U.S. in white non-Hispanic women have almost caught them up with black women.
While the rise in the rate of twins occurred in every age group, the biggest surges were in women 30 and older. From 1980 to 2009, the rate of twins increased 76 percent among women aged 30 to 34 and nearly 100 percent for women aged 35 to 39. Among women aged 40 and older the rate surged more than 200 percent, the Martin and her colleagues reported.
Nobody knows exactly why older women are more prone to twinning, Sanfilippo said. But the most likely explanation is that older women have older eggs.
While these older eggs still have DNA that is intact enough to produce a healthy baby, the mechanisms that allow the fertilized egg to grow and divide may be somewhat compromised and this is what may lead to more twinning.
“The egg is the orchestra leader,” Sanfilippo explained. “If it’s been sitting around in the ovaries for 35 to 40 years it doesn’t work as well. Certainly not as well as one that is just 25 years old.”
Ultimately older moms are only responsible for one third of the increase in twins, Martin said. The rest of the surge is due to increasing use of infertility therapies like in vitro fertilization.
And that’s something that doctors and patients can control. These days more and more infertility centers are choosing to put only one embryo back into a woman’s uterus during IVF, hoping to stem the surge in multiple births.
The hope, Sanfilippo said, is that this will lead to healthier moms and babies.
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I think we have yet to learn if there is any difference between twins born via IVF or those who were spontaneously conceived to younger or older mothers. Twins are twins, but one has to wonder about the consequences of the different means of conception. Just as there is a difference between older mothers vs. younger mothers, or fraternal twins vs. identical twins - I would expect there to be a difference (if minute) between IVF twins and spontaneous twins.
My grandmother told me about her father being siblings with 3 sets of twins. I never believed her since she is drama-prone. My own mother had 6 kids. My oldest sister had her last child at 40. No twins. I got pregnant at 25, the ultrasound showed twins! Go figure.
Maybe its all the chemicals in our foods nowadays?
It would be great to have had twins. You only have to go through pregnancy once, and it is usually shorter!
I have an identical twin sister and every April fool's day we would switch all our classes in high school. The teachers thought it was great when we would tell them what we did and never did get in trouble for it. By our senior year they came to expect it.
Janice: I have an identical twin brother and we also use to switch classes here and there. Never got caught. Switched a few dates as well; got caught once. We are both CPAs and have worked at the same places over the years except for one year. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
And why would this be "news" ? Get a life you loser media people.
Since I had my naturally occuring identical twins I've met A LOT of older twins. They seem to come out of the woodwork. Then I thought about it and in my office of 90 people there were 12 twins (just the one worked for us). The age ranged from 40's to my newborn.
Me and my brother are identicle twins born in 1959 without any help from fertility drugs. My mom was 18. we both were 3 pounds and premature. But at 52 yrs old wre hanging in their even though we both have a-fib and other health issues. My parents did not know they were having twins , Me and Bill are still very close. Their is a bond that is special. We were 21 minutes apart.
Fertility treatments and waiting to you're older? Baloney. It's long been known that twinning in humans skips a generation...that is, if you're a woman and one of your grandparents was a twin, you're likely to deliver twins. Your grandparents also had more kids than people today, so there are more women capable of having twins, breeding these days. That's why we're seeing an increase in the incidence of twins. They probably would have had twins without the fertility treatments and even if they'd had kids when they were younger.
Actually the purpose of the most common fertility drugs is to overstimulate the ovary which is thought to not regularly be producing eggs which has a higher probability of releasing more than one egg during the cycle than before. So yes, a good portion of the increase in twins is due to fertility drugs and planting multiples during invitro fertilization. The twins passing from grandmothers is also false as many families have twins in each generation and some families only have one set of twins.
My twins, a man and a woman are now 36yrs old. They remember being constantly asked by passersby if they were identical! My daughter especially lost patience with this ignorant if well meaning attempt at conversation.
Yes, isn't it amazing and frustrating how many people ask fraternal b/g twins if they are identical?! As parents of b/g twins, it used to drive us crazy! My husband would always stop and explain to these passersby how it's impossible for a boy and girl to be identical! :-)
Actually, a b/g twins can be identical. It's a chromosomal mutation. National Geographic did a program on twinning that detailed this.
I have a set of 10 month old b/g twins by IVF. I did wait to have children later in life, after finishing my education and establishing my career. I don't regret taking some time to have a life with my husband first, build a home in a neighborhood with great schools and become financially stable to AFFORD a child (or two). But, I also had severe, extensive endometriosis that prevented me from becoming pregnant through any other method. My children were born early with some health issues, but the NICU took fantastic care of them and they have been wonderful ever since they came home. My children are beautiful and healthy - everyone that sees them can't believe they are preemies. It has been a lot of hard work, but No regrets. I love my twins!
Financial stability doesn't exist for most people. As the recession taught us, you can be high one day and low the next. If we all waited for financial stability, our population would have plummeted decades ago.
My pregnancies were all natural occurences. I had a single, followed by identical twin boys (at the age of 30), followed by a single also followed by fraternal twin boys (at the age of 40). I had normal, full term pregnancies. I never required any hospitalization or medical interventions. All my twins were 7 plus lbs and didn't require any "medical assistance". My older boys received speech therapy for a couple years, but other than that they are all very healthy. I think the speech thing was because of the "twin language" they used to communicate with each other. I had their evaluation done at different times by different people and they scored 1% point different. My doctor cited research very similar to what is in this article for the fraternal set, but stated any woman who can give birth has the same chances of having identicals. I fit the age model of the woman in this article, but my twins don't even come close.
I'll propose a totally unscientific theory. Due to medical advancements in the last 100 years more premature babies and troubled pregnancies have a happy ending. Therefore twins that wouldn't be as likely to survive 100 years ago are now surviving and so the genes that produce the likelihood of twins are being passed on at an increasing and more successful rate compared to people that possess genes for single births. That coupled with fertility treatments will obviously up the rate at which twins and even triples will be born.
Then again that IS a scientific THEORY isn't it?
I want twins!! I almost had Irish twins, missed it by 4 months. Deployments suck!
To CRIMSON WIFE--I will be as delicate as I can--the problem is vaccinations--the fools put mercury in vaccines--cause nerve/cell damage; the chemicals Congress allows in food, tainted foor from China, tainted water, air--it all adds up to birth defects and perhaps this twin thing. Autistic children have a class action suit against drug companies--check web. Hope the courts did not yet side w/drug companies.
The thing about these stories is that they never differentiate between fraternal and identical twins. There is a difference and it should be noted. Has the occurance of identical twins increased by a statistical significance? I bet not. It also puts a negative and frankly ignorant light on those who have identical twins which were not aided by fertility treatments. I don't have twins and am not a twin but I've heard some pretty ridiculous stories from friends who get very rude and uneducated comments from people regarding this subject.
If you want to look at this at a more logical way the date of this increase correlates with the increase or rise of obesity which also increased with the use of hormones added to animal feed and the increase of genetically modified foods getting into the human food chain. 25 years from now you will realise that they were poisoning us all along.
I had twins at 25, no fertility treatments, no family history, just my good luck. If my girls have twins, they will at least have the history.
If you want to look at this at a more logical way the date of this increase correlates with the increase or rise of obesity which also increased with the use of hormones added to animal feed and the increase of genetically modified foods getting into the human food chain. 25 years from now you will realise that they were poisoning us all along.
I have fraternal, boy/girl, twins. No fertility of any kind was used. My husband and I were 36 when they were born. I had natural child birth and they (and myself) were very healthy, full-term, babies. My son weighed 7.6 and my daughter 6.9. My paternal great-grandmother had two sets of fraternal boy/girl twins, however my grandmother was not a twin, but obviously had twin siblings. My husband's paternal grandfather was an identical twin. No other family/cousins, that I am aware of, have twins. Could have been the heredity, could have been my age, not sure, maybe a bit of both. My twins are 7 years old second graders and have done very well in school and have no learning issues nor any medical issues, thank God. It was quite a surprise and definitely a double blessing!
I'm 25 and about to go through IVF. I'm hoping for twins because I just can't go through IF anymore.
My daughter just delivered twins on 1-2-12, boy and girl three months early. The are in a NNICU and are holding on. She is 22 years old and was using the Novum (?) Ring as birth control. Her oldest son just turned a year old yesterday. Her great-grandfather was a frat twin, her great aunt had identical girls, her aunt had identical boys...all on her fathers side. Don't know if that matters, but it sure was unexpected.
I have three year old twins, they were born at 35 weeks and weighed 3 lbs and 5 lbs. They were not conceived* by IVF. I do find it frustrating as well that EVERYONE needs to make a comment about them, "are they twins"? "are they natural"? "god I feel sorry for you".
Also-it doesn't matter if your kids were born 9 mths apart, they are NOT twins. I cannot stand when people say "oh my children are a year apart, it's just like having twins". Think again.
I have two (natural) sets of twins. I had my first set at 27 and my second at 29 (my current age). People assumed the first time that they were conceived with fertility drugs and after my second set people flat out think I'm lying when I say they were natural. My grandmother had three sets of multiples including triplets and many of my paternal female relatives have multiples. For us, it's genetic. I hate people assuming that I take fertility drugs. And for assuming I had a c-section when both sets were born naturally and without drugs.
I am a mom of six - including a set of triplets. My triplets were conceived using infertility medications, but not IVF. It's offensive that I am not a mother to "real" triplets because we had help conceiving. That's ridiculous. They are still triplets. Two of them are mirror-image identical (not all identicals are mirror-image as stated above - it has to do with when the egg split; in fact mirror-image is fairly rare), so NOT a product of any medications we took. The other is fraternal. My oldest was naturally conceived, as was our youngest. My triplets were born just shy of 36 weeks (two days), at which point we were scheduled to deliver them. They were 5lbs,12oz, 5lbs,6oz, and 4lbs,11oz. NONE of them stayed in the hospital. One never went to NICU. One went for 12 hrs for observation. One went for 18 hrs for a little oxygen and observation. All in all, very healthy babies who went home at 4 days old with NO problems.
As for the autism connection - my oldest has autism, as does ONE of the triplets (one of the identical two). My oldest was born when I was 20 and I never used infertility meds. The other I was in my early 30s, used infertility meds, but he was one of the identical two. I believe 100% genetics had the most to do with it and not age or medicine.
You are very blessed and I feel the same way.My twins are all fratenal. Mine were all preemies though; It must be fun to have triplets; I always said I didn't know how I would do it if there would have been 3 at a time!!!