Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Do twins run in families?

A common question females ask is: "My mother (or sister, aunt or grandmother) had twins, what is the chance of me having twins too?" Fraternal (dizygotic) twins do tend to run in families. This is probably because there are genetic influences which make multiple ovulation more likely. Women who have fraternal twins tend to produce eggs from both ovaries in the same month, rather than from only one ovary at a time.
There is no medical evidence of identical twins running in the family however there is some anecdotal evidence in support of it. Women who conceive when they are over 30 years of age also have an increased chance of having twins.
If your mother, sister, aunt or other close female relative is a twin or has twins your chances are roughly doubled - in Australia for example this would give you around 1 chance in 35.


http://www.twinsrealm.com/twinsfaq.htm

Our daughter and son in law found out this week that they will soon become the parents of twins
A little boy and a little girl. How perfect is that!!
My hubby has twins ( fraternal) on his side of the family, Bill and Fred Mower born 105 years ago this Feburary.
My Half Uncle, on my mom's side ( the Davis Clan) has a set of twins in his family.

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