Ok, so I don't need to tell you how you have twins; everyone knows about the birds and the bees ' right? The question on most peoples lips as fast as they see you have twins is "do they run in the family?"
I have fraternal twins and monochorionic twins, both sets naturally conceived and a total surprise. There are twins in other generations there is, however, no pattern of skipping a generation. I'm tall and I do eat dairy foods.
Now the facts:
Chances of Twin Conception
Most twins are Fraternal. Monochorionic twins are not common. What's the difference I hear you ask? Well, Fraternal Twins are two separate eggs fertilised by two separate sperm whilst Monochorionic twins come from one single egg fertilised by one single sperm that then divides in to 2 separate embryos.
I have fraternal twins and monochorionic twins, both sets naturally conceived and a total surprise. There are twins in other generations there is, however, no pattern of skipping a generation. I'm tall and I do eat dairy foods.
Now the facts:
Chances of Twin Conception
Most twins are Fraternal. Monochorionic twins are not common. What's the difference I hear you ask? Well, Fraternal Twins are two separate eggs fertilised by two separate sperm whilst Monochorionic twins come from one single egg fertilised by one single sperm that then divides in to 2 separate embryos.
The possibility of having monochorionic twins is about one set per 250 births. This is a consistent statistic across the world. Monochorionic twins aren't conditional upon heredity, race, age or number of pregnancies so you'll have more chance of conceiving Fraternal Twins. Not only are fraternal twins likely to be swayed by race, heredity, maternal age and number of previous pregnancies they're also more common due to fertility enhancers. If a lady has fertility drugs to assist with conception the chances of twins is increased; fertility treatments stimulate the ovaries increasing the percentages that a lady will release one or two eggs at the same time.
To summarize, there are reasons why your possibilities can be increased with conceiving fraternal twins although not with Identical Twins. Identical Twins are described as "spontaneous" and sort of a puzzle.
If you are a twin or twins run in your family you are a little more likely to conceive twins yourself. Hyper Ovulation is the inclination to release multiple eggs during ovulation, accelerating the chances of conceiving fraternal twins. So in families where the women have the gene for hyper ovulation, genetics would explain an increased presence of fraternal twins. This does not reveal why some mother's have identical twins as we all know that identical twins, a. K. A, Monochorionic twins come from the splitting of one single egg.
As it is only women who ovulate, the hereditary connection is only valid on the mother's side of the family. Put simply, while men can carry and pass the gene on to their daughters, a family history of twins doesn't make them any likelier to have twins themselves.
Another possibility is the older you're the higher chance you have of conceiving fraternal twins; a report found that ladies over 35 produce more follicle stimulating hormones than younger ladies.
There are some more random ideas a
To summarize, there are reasons why your possibilities can be increased with conceiving fraternal twins although not with Identical Twins. Identical Twins are described as "spontaneous" and sort of a puzzle.
If you are a twin or twins run in your family you are a little more likely to conceive twins yourself. Hyper Ovulation is the inclination to release multiple eggs during ovulation, accelerating the chances of conceiving fraternal twins. So in families where the women have the gene for hyper ovulation, genetics would explain an increased presence of fraternal twins. This does not reveal why some mother's have identical twins as we all know that identical twins, a. K. A, Monochorionic twins come from the splitting of one single egg.
As it is only women who ovulate, the hereditary connection is only valid on the mother's side of the family. Put simply, while men can carry and pass the gene on to their daughters, a family history of twins doesn't make them any likelier to have twins themselves.
Another possibility is the older you're the higher chance you have of conceiving fraternal twins; a report found that ladies over 35 produce more follicle stimulating hormones than younger ladies.
There are some more random ideas a
If you are a twin or twins run in your family you are a little more likely to conceive twins yourself. Hyper Ovulation is the inclination to release multiple eggs during ovulation, accelerating the chances of conceiving fraternal twins. So in families where the women have the gene for hyper ovulation, genetics would explain an increased presence of fraternal twins. This does not reveal why some mother's have identical twins as we all know that identical twins, a. K. A, Monochorionic twins come from the splitting of one single egg.
As it is only women who ovulate, the hereditary connection is only valid on the mother's side of the family. Put simply, while men can carry and pass the gene on to their daughters, a family history of twins doesn't make them any likelier to have twins themselves.
Another possibility is the older you're the higher chance you have of conceiving fraternal twins; a report found that ladies over 35 produce more follicle stimulating hormones than younger ladies.
There are some more random ideas about the frequency of twin pregancy such as Twins are more common in large and tall ladies and the more pregnancies you've had the bigger the probabilities of having twins. If you have conceived had a set of fraternal twins you are 2 times as sure to have another set in further pregnancies. If the firstborn are twins you are about five times more certain to repeat twinning.
Diet could be a possible factor; there's a tribe in West Africa called the Yoruba Tribe and they have the top rate of twinning in the world. A study concluded the mother's diet was the cause, being high in cassava, a sort of yam or sweet potato. Allegedly, these plant peelings are thought to contain a chemical that causes hyperovulation. Additionally 1 2006 report found that women that consume dairy are 5 times as likely to have twins.
With the appreciation of the above you might say I fall into both classes; hyper ovulation gene and puzzle and therefore I can just think that the Universe realises that I like a challenge and having 2 sets of twins is definitely that!
Happy Twinning!
About the Author:
As it is only women who ovulate, the hereditary connection is only valid on the mother's side of the family. Put simply, while men can carry and pass the gene on to their daughters, a family history of twins doesn't make them any likelier to have twins themselves.
Another possibility is the older you're the higher chance you have of conceiving fraternal twins; a report found that ladies over 35 produce more follicle stimulating hormones than younger ladies.
There are some more random ideas about the frequency of twin pregancy such as Twins are more common in large and tall ladies and the more pregnancies you've had the bigger the probabilities of having twins. If you have conceived had a set of fraternal twins you are 2 times as sure to have another set in further pregnancies. If the firstborn are twins you are about five times more certain to repeat twinning.
Diet could be a possible factor; there's a tribe in West Africa called the Yoruba Tribe and they have the top rate of twinning in the world. A study concluded the mother's diet was the cause, being high in cassava, a sort of yam or sweet potato. Allegedly, these plant peelings are thought to contain a chemical that causes hyperovulation. Additionally 1 2006 report found that women that consume dairy are 5 times as likely to have twins.
With the appreciation of the above you might say I fall into both classes; hyper ovulation gene and puzzle and therefore I can just think that the Universe realises that I like a challenge and having 2 sets of twins is definitely that!
Happy Twinning!
About the Author:
Mother of Twins Twice shares her own experiences of having twins on her website Twinstips.com