How to Increase Your Chance of Having Twins9466897

There isn't a woman alive who, when she finds out she's pregnant, doesn't wonder if she might be carrying fraternal twins. Still it's always a shock when the doctor announces the presence of a second or third little fetus. The most common type of twins are fraternal and occur when the mother's body releases two eggs instead of one. When both eggs are fertilized they develop into two genetically unique individuals who share the same womb. In one extraordinary case, a woman who was having a sexual relationship with two men gave birth to fraternal twin boys each carrying the DNA of a different father. Imagine her surprise when one baby was born white and the other black. Boy-girl fraternal twins make up about 40% of all double births; fraternal girls are the next most common, followed by fraternal boys.

Identical twins are more rare and occur when a single egg, fertilized by a single sperm divides into two identical halves. No one is sure why this happens but both babies will share the same gender and genetic makeup. Identical girl twins occur more often than identical boy twins. Today, twin births result in about 1 out of every 33 pregnancies. This reflects a 74% increase over the last twenty-years, partially due to the increase in use, and improvement of infertility treatment.

Although we can't predict who will conceive more than one fetus, those using in vitro procedures have a higher chance of giving birth to multiples. There are, however some factors that can increase the chances of a twin pregnancy.

Though there isn't any magic gene that can predict your likelihood of having twins, if you are a twin or your mother or grandmother is, you may carry a gene which causes hyper ovulation. This mean you have a tendency to release more than one egg each month and could give you a predisposition to carry fraternal twins. The chances of releasing more than one egg during ovulation also increases with age. that's why 17% if women over 45 give birth to multiples. It's thought that as the woman ages her body pushes to release more and more eggs. However, the older a woman is when giving birth, the higher the chances of complications to her and her baby. Women who have already given birth to twins are significantly more likely to do so again.

Okay, this may sound crazy but eating more yams and dairy may also increase the chances of twin births. A tribe in West Africa, known for the highest incidents of multiple births per capita in the world, eat a diet heavy in yams and sweet potatoes. Some scientists believe that the peels of these root vegetables contain a chemical that increases hyper ovulation. Another study in 2006 suggested that a diet rich in dairy products increased the possibility of multiple inception by 5. There is some correlation between large families and twins. So the more kids you already have given birth to, the more likely you are to be surprised with a double pregnancy. Tradition holds that a woman cannot get pregnant while breast feeding, however that often isn't the case. there's some research to indicate that breast feeding might not inhibit ovulation in all women, and in some, may even increase the release of eggs resulting in twins. Plenty of twin parents say definitely that the cause of multi births is just plain old fashioned luck.

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