Bob Peale
angeli ribelli
- Joined
- Sep 4, 1999
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Double Delight
Your likelihood of conceiving twins
How common are twins and other multiple pregnancies?
Very common, especially in the past two decades, largely because more women are taking fertility drugs and turning to treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) to help them conceive. That also explains why pregnancies with four, five or even more babies (case in point: the 1997 Iowa septuplets) are on the rise.
But while quadruplets, quintuplets and septuplets may headline the evening news, 95 percent of multiple pregnancies are still twins. Between 1980 and 1995, the number of twin births rose by 42 percent; to put that in context, in 1995 a woman's chances of having twins was one in 40.
About one-third of twins are identical or monozygotic twins (when one fertilized egg divides in half). Two-thirds are fraternal or dizygotic twins (when two eggs are fertilized by different sperm).
I'm taking a fertility drug. Am I likely to have more than one baby?
While it's not a sure thing, prepare yourself for the possibility. Nowadays, most women who give birth to triplets or more have undergone some type of fertility treatment — although one type, IUI (intrauterine insemination), where sperm are injected into a woman's uterus with a syringe, doesn't increase the risk of multiple fetuses.
Fertility drugs stimulate your ovaries, increasing the odds that you'll release several eggs at the same time. On average, 25 percent of women taking gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Pergonal) will become pregnant with twins or more, for example. Chances are about the same if you have IVF, because several eggs will be inserted into your womb to increase the chances that you'll conceive.
Newer fertility techniques such as ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer), and ZIFT (zygote intrafallopian transfer) are also more likely to result in a multiple-baby pregnancy.
Geri Martin Wilson of Palo Alto, Calif., tried to get pregnant for several years when she was in her late 20s. She had one operation to remove fibroid tumors and to treat endometriosis, but still didn't get pregnant. Her doctor prescribed a popular fertility drug called Clomid for two months. Soon after, she became pregnant with fraternal twins, Natalie and Tyler, now 4 years old.
What other factors increase the chances that I'll have twins?
Your age plays a big role. If you wait to have children until you're in your 30s or beyond — a burgeoning trend recently, especially among working women — you face a greater chance than younger women of having twins or more. As you age, you naturally produce more ovulation-stimulating hormones, which could trigger your ovaries to release several eggs each month.
Several other factors influence whether you'll become pregnant with twins:
Race: Fraternal but not identical twins are more common in African Americans and less common in Asians.
Size: Larger, taller women are 25 to 30 percent more likely to have twins.
Heredity: As far as genes are concerned, the mother's side of the family is the only side that matters. If twins run in your mother's family, you're more likely to have a set yourself.
That's exactly what happened to Geri Martin Wilson. Less than three years after she gave birth to Natalie and Tyler, she got pregnant again, but this time she didn't use any fertility drugs. After she had an ultrasound, her doctor told her she was carrying another set of twins. She was shocked, to say the least. "I just leaned on the ultrasound table and said, 'What are the odds of that happening?'" she recalls. Again, it was another set of boy and girl twins, Joshua and Emma, now 4 months old.
Your likelihood of conceiving twins
How common are twins and other multiple pregnancies?
Very common, especially in the past two decades, largely because more women are taking fertility drugs and turning to treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) to help them conceive. That also explains why pregnancies with four, five or even more babies (case in point: the 1997 Iowa septuplets) are on the rise.
But while quadruplets, quintuplets and septuplets may headline the evening news, 95 percent of multiple pregnancies are still twins. Between 1980 and 1995, the number of twin births rose by 42 percent; to put that in context, in 1995 a woman's chances of having twins was one in 40.
About one-third of twins are identical or monozygotic twins (when one fertilized egg divides in half). Two-thirds are fraternal or dizygotic twins (when two eggs are fertilized by different sperm).
I'm taking a fertility drug. Am I likely to have more than one baby?
While it's not a sure thing, prepare yourself for the possibility. Nowadays, most women who give birth to triplets or more have undergone some type of fertility treatment — although one type, IUI (intrauterine insemination), where sperm are injected into a woman's uterus with a syringe, doesn't increase the risk of multiple fetuses.
Fertility drugs stimulate your ovaries, increasing the odds that you'll release several eggs at the same time. On average, 25 percent of women taking gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Pergonal) will become pregnant with twins or more, for example. Chances are about the same if you have IVF, because several eggs will be inserted into your womb to increase the chances that you'll conceive.
Newer fertility techniques such as ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), GIFT (gamete intrafallopian transfer), and ZIFT (zygote intrafallopian transfer) are also more likely to result in a multiple-baby pregnancy.
Geri Martin Wilson of Palo Alto, Calif., tried to get pregnant for several years when she was in her late 20s. She had one operation to remove fibroid tumors and to treat endometriosis, but still didn't get pregnant. Her doctor prescribed a popular fertility drug called Clomid for two months. Soon after, she became pregnant with fraternal twins, Natalie and Tyler, now 4 years old.
What other factors increase the chances that I'll have twins?
Your age plays a big role. If you wait to have children until you're in your 30s or beyond — a burgeoning trend recently, especially among working women — you face a greater chance than younger women of having twins or more. As you age, you naturally produce more ovulation-stimulating hormones, which could trigger your ovaries to release several eggs each month.
Several other factors influence whether you'll become pregnant with twins:
Race: Fraternal but not identical twins are more common in African Americans and less common in Asians.
Size: Larger, taller women are 25 to 30 percent more likely to have twins.
Heredity: As far as genes are concerned, the mother's side of the family is the only side that matters. If twins run in your mother's family, you're more likely to have a set yourself.
That's exactly what happened to Geri Martin Wilson. Less than three years after she gave birth to Natalie and Tyler, she got pregnant again, but this time she didn't use any fertility drugs. After she had an ultrasound, her doctor told her she was carrying another set of twins. She was shocked, to say the least. "I just leaned on the ultrasound table and said, 'What are the odds of that happening?'" she recalls. Again, it was another set of boy and girl twins, Joshua and Emma, now 4 months old.
