Naturally conceived twins occur in about 1 out of every 89 births. Under normal circumstances, your odds of
conceiving twins are slim. Taking
fertility medications or undergoing a procedure like IVF can increase your
chances of conceiving twins, but you may be curious if there is anything you
can do to naturally increase your chances of having twins.
How are twins conceived?
Most twins are fraternal. Fraternal
twins develop from two separate eggs.
Identical twins are rare and happen as a result of just one egg which
splits sometime in early pregnancy.
Fraternal twins are conceived when two eggs are released during
ovulation whereas identical twins are more of a random fluke.
Can you increase your chances of having twins?
Yes, there are some things that will increase your chances of having twins,
but some of these things are really out of your control. Having a family history of twins will
increase your chances of having twins.
This is true if you have a family history of twins, meaning someone on
your mother’s side or father’s side of the family has had twins, especially if
they had fraternal twins. If your
partner has twins in his family, it doesn’t help you any. The reason being is that there may be some
genetic component that may cause you to produce more than one egg during
ovulation. This “twin gene” may be
passed down from your parents to you.
Identical twins are not thought to be hereditary.
Other factors that may affect your chances of having twins are your
ethnicity and your age. African American
women are more likely to conceive twins than Caucasian women. And, Asian women have a lower chance of
conceiving twins. Twins are also more
common in older women.
Things you can do to naturally increase your chances of having twins:
Take a folic acid supplement: There
have been a few studies on the link between folic acid and conceiving
twins. One Australian study found that
women who took folic acid before they got pregnant were more likely to conceive
twins. In fact, according to this study,
you may have a 40% or greater chance of conceiving twins if you take folic acid
while you are trying to conceive. Some
other studies have shown contradictory results making it hard to say for sure
if folic acid actually increases your odds of conceiving twins. Nevertheless, folic acid also helps to
prevent neural tube defects so it is a good idea to take a folic acid supplement
(or a multi vitamin with folic acid) even if you aren’t trying to conceive
twins.
Gain weight: A study published in
the March 2005 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology found that women who were
overweight had a higher chance of having twins.
Women who were tall also had a higher chance of having twins.
Eat dairy products: According to a
recent study by Dr. Gary Steinman, a physician at Long Island Jewish Medical
Center who is well known for research on multiple birth pregnancies, women who
eat dairy are five times more likely to conceive twins than women who
don’t. Dr. Steinman’s study compared
women who ate a regular diet with vegan women and vegetarian women who consumed
dairy products. Vegans appear to be less
likely to conceive twins according to the study. But, it may not be so much that consuming
dairy increases your chances of having twins; but rather, that consuming milk
or other dairy products from growth hormone treated cows increases your chances
of having twins.
Continue breastfeeding: If you are
breastfeeding and would like to conceive twins, you may want to hold off on
weaning your little one. According to
one twin study, women who were breastfeeding when they conceived were nine
times more likely to conceive twins than women who are were not breastfeeding.
Try to conceive shortly after discontinuing birth control pills: Sometimes when a woman quits using birth
control pills, her body gets “out of wack” as it tries to start regulating its
own hormone production again. If a woman
has been using the pill for six months or more her body adjusts to the birth
control controlling her hormones so when she stops taking the pill, her body
may take a cycle or two to get her hormones working the way they are supposed
to. When this happens, women sometimes
receive a little too much hormone stimulation.
This can cause the ovaries to release one too many eggs during the first
ovulatory cycle or two after discontinuing the pill. So if you want to have twins, the first cycle
or two after stopping the pill is a great time to try!
Eat wild yams: We are not sure if
this one will really work but it can’t hurt.
The theory behind eating yams is that there may be a chemical in wild
yams, or cassava root, which may cause hyperstimulation of the ovaries,
resulting in the release of more than one egg during ovulation. We are not sure if this is true or not but
one town in Africa, Igbo-Ora, is known for having a high rate of twins. This small town in Nigeria claims to have the
highest rate of twins in the world, 4 times higher than the rest of the world’s
population. Researchers started looking
into the diet of this African town and concluded that the reason for the high
rate of twins might be due to their diet.
People in the town of Igbo-Ora consume a large amount of cassava root, a
wild yam. Researchers believe that the
wild yams may play a role in the high rate of twins conceived in this town.
Have a big family: Having a big
family also naturally increases your chances of having twins. It makes sense, the more times you are
pregnant, the more likely it is that one of your pregnancies will be twins.
Try to get pregnant when you are older: Women who are older are more likely
to have twins. Women over 45 have a 17%
chance of conceiving twins, but they also have a lower fertility rate so it
probably won’t make sense to wait until you are older just to conceive
twins. Still, if you are older and are
able to conceive, you are more likely to have twins than someone younger. The reason being is most likely related to
the fact that older women start producing higher levels of FSH, follicle
stimulating hormone. FSH is a hormone
that tells your ovaries to start maturing an egg for ovulation. As you get older, you have less eggs and
lower quality eggs, so to compensate your body starts producing more FSH. This increase in FSH production may cause an
older woman to be over stimulated and result in the release of more than one
egg during ovulation; thus, increasing the chances of conceiving twins.
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