We have been asked so many times, "So, are you having twins?" We were asked enough simply because Josh was a twin, but then when his sister-in-law announced that they were expecting twins, the questions multiplied. I went out to coffee with a friend the other day who said, "Well, you'd better watch out...apparently you're going to have twins next!"
So...let's do a little twin myth-busting, shall we?
Fraternal twins are more likely* in women who have the gene for hyperovulation (or who have undergone fertility treatments, in which case there's nothing genetic about it at all). A female fraternal twin is likely to have twins herself. A male fraternal twin, however, may pass this gene down to his daughter and have twin grandchildren, but his own chances of having twins are no higher than anyone else's.
Sooo...even if Josh were a fraternal twin, then my chances of having twins would remain exactly the same. But if we had a daughter, she could have twins (which, btw, is how the myth got started that twins skip generations).
However, Josh is NOT a fraternal twin. He is an identical twin. Identicals are completely random (as far as doctors know - they have no idea what causes eggs to split, but haven't found any sort of correlation between identical twins in families), and actually are technically a malfunction of the normal process. Neither female nor male identical twins are more likely to have their own twins.
So, in other words, my chances of having twins are about as good (or bad) as anyone else's for three reasons:
(1) Josh is an identical twin rather than fraternal, meaning there's nothing genetic about it and I don't even have a good chance of having twin grandchildren.
(2) I do not share my sister-in-law's genetics, which may or may not be the cause of her twins in the first place. In any case, her likelihood of having twins has no relation to mine.
(3) As far as I know, there are no fraternal twins on my side of the family, so my chances of carrying the gene are pretty low.
So there you have it.
*Obviously, there are other factors involved and a woman having fraternal twins may or may not have this gene. But any relation between multiple sets of fraternal twins in a family is usually due to this gene.
*grin* I've given up correcting the assumption that our fraternal twins have anything to do with my husband having identical twin brothers. I'm occasionally tempted to holler "It's MY fault, NOT HIS" - until I think about the explanations I would have to give. It's bad enough being asked if we used IVF, etc. (to which I'm tempted to reply "Oh yes - we were so concerned about having another child that when our firstborn was 9 MONTHS OLD we rushed out to begin fertility treatments" *polite smile*). Do I really want to give the details about why my over-achiever self is responsible? NO.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, my dad's sister had fraternal twins so it's quite likely I have the gene and nobody bothered to tell me...
LOL Corrie. At least your sisters all know it's a possibility now...you did them a service. :) Sometimes I'm tempted to just smile and say, "No, I don't really like yams" when people ask if I'm likely to have twins.
ReplyDeleteWhat's really funny are the people who refused to believe that there was only one even after we had the 9 week ultrasound. "Well, they've been known to miss a second baby you know." Um...maybe forty years ago, but technology has improved and I assure you, there's only one!