Ode to Twins and Supertwins: 28 Interesting Facts About Multiplesby Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger 27 Jul 2006 09:00 AM 1. Up to 22% of twins are left-handed. In the general populace, only 10% are left-handed. 2. Did you know that where you live can help determine whether or not you conceive multiples? If you live in Massachusetts and Connecticut, the twinning rate is 25% higher than the general populace. 3. On the other hand, if you don't want twins, move to Hawaii. Their rate of twin births is 30% less than the rate in the rest of the nation. 4. If you are super adventurous and want triplets, Nebraska or New Jersey is the place for you to make your home. Their rate of triplets is double that of the rest of the nation. 5. The Yoruba tribe in Nigeria has the highest incidence of twinning in the entire world. Why? They eat lots of yams. 6. One amazing mother in Chile gave birth to the last of her 55 children in 1981. Her children includes five sets of triplets (all boys). Now that mom has her hands full! 7. Fraternal twins are much more common than identical twins. The chance of having twins is about 1 in 285. 8. Both Elvis Presley and Liberace were twins? Their siblings died at birth. 9. The famous advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby) are twins. 10. William Shakespeare fathered a set of boy/girl twins. 11. Fraternal twins run in families. Identical twins are a fluke of nature. 12. There are 7 different types of twins: identical, fraternal, half-identical, mirror image twins, mixed chromosome twins, superfecundation, and superfetation. These other types are very rare. 13. Due to sonograms being more widely available earlier in pregnancy it is now estimated that for every live twin birth, there are at least 6 other "twins" that no one ever knew about due to the vanishing twin phenomenon. 14. As if the woman in Chile did not have enough children, a woman in Russia in the 1700's, gave birth to 16 sets of twins, in addition to 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quads! 15. The earliest twins were ever born? 22 weeks! Each twins was less than 12 inches long and weighed only slightly more than a pound. 16. Twins do not have to be born on the same dates. The longest gap between birth is 85 days. 17. 27 lbs. and 12oz. Total is the heaviest combined birth weight of any set of twins. 18. Cirque du Soleil employs the most sets of twins. (With the exception of course of the Twins restaurant in New York City where you can only be a waiter if you are an identical twin.) 19. Only 14% of women carry multiples past 37 weeks. Most women give birth prematurely. 20. 56% of all twin births are spontaneous. (Meaning the couple did not use fertility drugs.) 21. Only 16% of triplet births are spontaneous and only 5% of quadruplet births are spontaneous. Anything more than quadruplets is not spontaneous. 22. Twins do not have to have the same father. It is possible for a mother to release two eggs separately (as much as 24 days apart). Consequently, the twins could have different due dates. 23. 82% of multiples are delivered via c-section, while 5% are delivered vaginally. The rest are delivered both by c-section and vaginally. 24. You have a 50% chance of having a c-section when you are pregnant with twins. You have a 100% chance of having a c-section if you are pregnant with more than 2 babies. 25. Identical twins experience nearly identical brain wave patterns. 26. Conjoined twins occur in every 1 out of 400,000 twin births. 27. Once you've had fraternal twins, you are 3 to 4 times more likely to have another set! 28. The rate of identical twinning is much higher in mothers that are very young and very old. Learn more about Valorie Delp  Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line. Relevantbaby tags User Comments  Kay M. (300) 27 Jul 2006 03:24 PMVery cool! I am a fraternal twin. I had to spend 28 days in an incubator. I only weighed 3 pounds whereas my twin sister weighed 5 pounds 4 oz. She was already a big eater and a bully inside the womb. (LOL) Oh, and our mother didn't exactly make it to the hospital for the delivery.... we were born on the bridge on the way to the hospital. Interesting facts about us: I am ambidextrous. We particpated in Twin Studies in our childhood. We both have high IQ's. We picked up foreign languages easily. We could tell when the other one was going to call before the telephone rang. I knew the exact moment of her death (I suddenly became ice cold ) The twin connection is quite interesting.  Valorie Delp (49340) 27 Jul 2006 04:28 PMCatherine, I thought you'd get a kick out of reading this! When I wrote it, I was thinking of you! Valorie Delp (49340) 27 Jul 2006 04:30 PMKay, I'm very surprised to hear that you are fraternal! Everything that you describe, down to the weight difference is very common with identical but not at all common with fraternal twins. Anyhow, you may be interested in reading some of my other blogs about having multiples. I am mother to fraternal twin girls who are about 14mos.  Catherine Ipcizade (5617) 27 Jul 2006 04:39 PMKay, I am so sorry you lost your twin. Losing mine would be like losing myself. I'm very, very sorry. My sister and I often think of one another at the same time and pick up the phone. We both start dialing so sometimes, I'll start dialing her number then hear "HELLO" in the receiver...hehehehehe Valorie Delp (49340) 27 Jul 2006 07:10 PMKay, I'm so sorry for your loss. I apologize for my insensitivity. . .I thought I had read your comment carefully but when I checked back and read Catherine's I realized that I had missed something. That would be the effects of sleep deprivation. munirahpunye (5) 25 Jul 2007 09:41 AMI have triplets born at 26weeks, 2 girls and a boy. The other two are still in the hospital under the Special Care Nursery. Their weights and lengths are 760gm (33cm), 564gm (31.5cm) and 600gm (32.5cm) . Unfortunately, one of the girl which happen to be the smallest left us after 3 days. I gave birth naturally to all 3. I didn't know what I felt over the night was contraction, when I reach the hospital I was already 9cm open. I was able to push all 3, with each difference of 6 mins. EmmaAbby (10) 14 Jan 2009 06:42 PMIm new to this site. I was lookin around for information on twins and found this so i registered. I have identical twin girls that are 22 months old. I was able to carry them to 38 weeks and they were 8 pounds 2 ounces and 6 pounds 5 ounces when they were born. The pregnancy was long and hard but I have 2 beautiful, healthy girls. Valorie Delp (49340) 14 Jan 2009 06:48 PMCongratulations EmmaAbby! My girls are 3 1/2 now. . .but loads of fun! Community Tags interesting facts about twins, multiples, twins Discuss this article
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