Are twins hereditary? Yes, some types of twins are hereditary, meaning that twins run in families. Heredity on the mother's side ups a couple's odds of conceiving fraternal twins. Fraternal twins are two babies from two different eggs that were released from the ovaries simultaneously.
However, since only women ovulate, the connection is only valid on the mother's side of the family. While men can carry the gene and pass it on to their daughters, a family history of twins doesn't make them any more likely to have twins themselves.
The twin gene is carried by the mother, meaning that it is her genes that determine whether someone may have fraternal twins.
In other words, twins on the father's side of the family will have no influence on your chances of having twins. It's possible, though, that if Dad inherited the gene for hyperovulation, he could pass that gene onto daughters, increasing their chances of twinning – and yours of having twin grandchildren.
A lot of people wonder what their chance is of having twins. You might have heard that twins “run in families”. And that can be true! Compared with the general population, women with a mother or sister who have had twins are twice as likely to have twins themselves.
In Australia, twins happen in 1 in every 80 births. This means that 1 in 40 Australians is a twin.
Factors that increase the chance of twins include: consuming high amounts of dairy foods, being over the age of 30, and conceiving while breastfeeding. Many fertility drugs including Clomid, Gonal-F, and Follistim also increase the odds of a twin pregnancy.
According to the Office on Women's Health , women who are aged 30 years or older are more likely to conceive twins. The reason for this is that women of this age are more likely than younger women to release more than one egg during their reproductive cycle.
Everyone has the same chance of having identical twins: about 1 in 250. Identical twins do not run in families. But there are some factors that make having non-identical twins more likely: non-identical twins are more common in some ethnic groups, with the highest rate among Nigerians and the lowest among Japanese.
Do Twins Skip Generations? Many people believe twins skip a generation, but that's just a myth. The idea that twins skip generations likely comes from the fact that the genetic factors contributing to twins only come from the gestational parent's side.
When both eggs are fertilized, the resulting siblings are fraternal twins. Because this gene can be passed on, the tendency to have fraternal twins can in fact run in families. Identical twins, on the other hand, result from one fertilized egg randomly splitting in two, creating two siblings with identical DNA.
The quick answer to this question is that, in a twin pregnancy, it is the mother's genes that determine twins. First up, giving birth to identical twins is not genetic, but conceiving fraternal twins is. The mother may have the genetic trait of releasing two eggs in one menstrual cycle.
Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.
Identical twins are almost always the same sex, although there are some rare exceptions to this rule. Because identical twins occur when a single fertilized egg splits and forms two embryos, each embryo has the same chromosomes (usually, XX for girls or XY for boys).
Monochorionic Monoamniotic Twins
These types of twins share the same chorion, placenta and amnion. This is the rarest type of twin pregnancy – only affecting 1 in every 100 sets of identical twins – and it comes with a higher risk of complications because the foetuses can get tangled in their umbilical cords.
"Today, twins can usually be diagnosed as early as six to seven weeks into the pregnancy," he says.
You're 35 or older
As you age, your chance of conceiving twins increases. Researchers have found that women over 35 produce more follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) than younger women, which may cause more than one egg to drop at ovulation.
No.
That's not all, Monga says. Women pregnant with twins complain of more back pain, sleeping difficulties, and heartburn than those who are carrying one child. Being pregnant with twins also carries a higher rate of maternal anemia and a higher rate of postpartum hemorrhage (bleeding) after delivery.
About 1 in 3 of all sets of twin births are vaginal births. You may choose to have an elective caesarean, or your doctor may recommend a caesarean section because of potential complications. Even if you plan a vaginal birth, you may end up having an emergency caesarean section due to complications during labour.
They come from the same fertilized egg and share the same genetic blueprint. To a standard DNA test, they are indistinguishable. But any forensics expert will tell you that there is at least one surefire way to tell them apart: identical twins do not have matching fingerprints.
Australians Anna and Lucy DeCinque call themselves the “most identical twins in the world”, and work to live up to their self-proclaimed title. They're engaged to the same man, have the same bathroom schedule, and work the same job – one for a salary the other as a volunteer, for legal reasons.
What is the likelihood of having more than one set of twins? If existing twins are identical the chance of having another set is the same as most women, about 1 in 250. If the twins are non- identical the chances of having twins again are much higher.