Yes, a male twin can have twins, but his increased chance is for fathering fraternal twins (due to a genetic predisposition for hyperovulation passed from his mother) and, more significantly, he can pass that gene to his daughters, making them more likely to have twins, a classic "twin gene" skip. While a male twin's own odds of conceiving multiples aren't directly raised, being a twin (especially fraternal) means he carries potential genetic markers that can affect future generations, particularly his female offspring.
It's possible for any couple to have twins. According to The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, women who are fraternal twins have a 1 in 60 chance of having twins, and men who are fraternal twins have a 1 in 125 chance of fathering twins.
Fraternal Twins
Fraternal twins (also called dizygotic twins) result from the fertilization of two separate eggs with two different sperm during the same pregnancy. Fraternal twins may not have the same sex or appearance. They share half their genomes, just like any other siblings.
Occasionally, two sperm are known to fertilize a single egg; this 'double fertilization' is thought to happen in about 1% of human conceptions. An embryo created this way doesn't usually survive, but a few cases are known to have made it — these children are chimaeras of cells with X and Y chromosomes.
Yes, it's called heteropaternal superfecundation, when a woman's body releases two eggs at the same time that are fertilized by two different fathers.
No, mixing sperm for surrogacy is currently not possible. Clinic guidelines and federal laws require that the sperm provider's identity be known to establish legal parentage. While you might want to “randomize” whose sperm is used, each sample must be kept separate.
The gene for hyperovulation can come from either side of the family, but the woman would need to have the gene in order for the couple to have twins based on genetics. In other words, twins on the father's side of the family will have no influence on your chances of having twins.
An egg fertilized by three sperms receives two extra chromosome sets, resulting in a quadruploid individual with 92 chromosomes. Extra chromosome sets directly harm sex determination. A triploid individual, for instance, has an abnormal combination of sex chromosomes (XXX, XXY or XYY).
A paternity test would be able to confirm whether or not one of the identical twins was the biological father of the child, but it would not be able to distinguish which twin it was. You will need to tell us when ordering a paternity test if more than one potential father is being tested and they are twins.
A daisy baby is another name for babies with TTTS. The Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome Foundation coined the term after its founder planted daisy seeds with her surviving twin son in their backyard. The daisy field is a symbol of hope that all babies affected by TTTS will survive.
Fraternal twins come from two separate eggs, so they can be any combination: girl/girl, boy/boy, or boy/girl. Different-sex identical twins are extremely rare. This can happen through unusual genetic changes or in ultra-rare “semi-identical” twins – but there are only a handful of documented cases worldwide.
For a given pregnancy, the odds of conceiving fraternal twins are only determined by the mother's genetics, not the father's.
Fertility treatments can lead to a twin pregnancy:
Vanishing twin syndrome is a condition in which 1 fetus in a multiple gestation disappears in the uterus during early pregnancy, most often during the first trimester.
A family history of multiple pregnancy raises the chances of having twins. Older age. People assigned female at birth who are older than 30 have a greater chance of multiple pregnancy. Today, many people assigned female at birth are waiting to have children until later in life.
Certain foods are believed by some people to support hyper-ovulation, which can lead to fraternal twins. Among these are sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, tofu, whole grains, whole wheat, and soy.
They found that, rather than birth sex being a toss-up, some families were more likely to have children of the same sex. Mothers who had three or more children were more likely to have either all boys or all girls than would be expected if birth sex was totally random.
Nadeau's theory is that the egg can prefer or reject sperm with certain genetic characteristics. This notion places female gametes as active parts in the reproduction process and makes the natural selection that takes place during fertilization even more complex.
Polyspermy is very rare in human reproduction. The decline in the numbers of sperm that swim to the oviduct is one of two ways that prevents polyspermy in humans. The other mechanism is the blocking of sperm in the fertilized egg. Only two cases of human polyspermy leading to birth of children have been reported.
Is one drop of sperm enough for pregnancy? Yes, one drop of sperm can cause pregnancy. In theory, only a single sperm is necessary for a person to get pregnant. However, the sperm will still need to be healthy and successfully fertilize an egg.
Fraternal twin pregnancies result from hyperovulation of the mother. The father's sperm does not decrease or increase the chance of having twins. Skipping a generation can happen in some cases, depending on whether the twins are boys or girls.
Can siblings share more than 50 percent of their DNA? Research has shown that full siblings can share as little as 37 percent or as much as 65 percent of their genetic variants. Do twins share the same DNA? Identical twins are the only siblings who share 100 percent of their DNA.
Nobody knows what causes identical (monozygotic) twins. Everyone has the same chance of having identical twins: about 1 in 250. Identical twins do not run in families.