The birth of twins is always a double joy. Many couples want to have twins or twins. This article will help you figure out if you can conceive twins naturally.
How does conception occur in multiple pregnancies?
Multiple pregnancies can be different. As a result of such a pregnancy, twins, twins, triplets and even fives may be born. The most common of these options are still twins. At the same time, twins can be both identical and heterogeneous.
Twins
In order to understand how twins appear, you need to imagine how the fertilization process proceeds. After the fusion of the egg and sperm, active division begins, with the result that yet another new organism is formed, which is called a zygote. Further, due to reasons unknown to science, the zygote in some cases may split. This division also contributes to the fact that not one, but two small human organisms are formed.
Scientists conduct quite a few experiments aimed at establishing the exact mechanism of active division of the zygote and the birth of twins. Modern research proves that fission time is the most important criterion. So, the more time has passed since the separation of the zygote, the greater the likelihood of formation of isolation in twins.
Scientists have found that if the zygote divides with the formation of two separate microorganisms on 1-3 days from the moment of fertilization, then in the future each of the babies will have their own membranes and placenta, but with a later separation, the twins will have a common placenta. The formation of Siamese twins (fused by body parts to each other) occurs, according to scientists, on the 13-15th day after the beginning of the division of the zygote.
Obstetricians-gynecologists distinguish several options for multiple pregnancies. The first of them is bichorionic biamniotic. In this case, each of the babies has its own placenta and fetal bladder. As noted, this option is possible if the division of the zygote occurred approximately 3-5 days after fertilization.
The second variant of multiple pregnancy is called monochorionic biamniotic. It is characterized by the presence of one placenta and two fetal bladders. It arises a little later - 4-8 days after the fertilization of the egg.
The third option is monochorionic monoamniotic twins. In this case, babies have only one placenta and one fetal bladder for two. This option is much less common than the previous two. It most often develops 9-10 days after fertilization.
Very often, identical twins look very similar to each other after birth. In the future, children actively use this similarity at school when answering in the classroom, causing real confusion for teachers and their classmates. It also happens that identical twins are very similar to each other not only in appearance, but also in character.
Twins
Fraternal twins are commonly referred to as twins. They can appear due to the simultaneous fertilization of two eggs. Twins tend to look less alike than identical twins. Children can have different hair and eye colors, differ in height and weight. Also, twins, as a rule, differ significantly in character and temperament.
Carrying twins requires more responsibility from a woman, because the female body is under significant stress at this time. It is very important that the pregnancy is desired. In this case, the woman tolerates all the difficulties of bearing babies quite well.
It is very important that during pregnancy, the expectant mother strictly follows all the recommendations of doctors made for her.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine multiple pregnancies based on clinical signs alone. In the early stages, it practically does not differ from a singleton pregnancy. It is possible to identify the presence of several babies in the uterus at once during an ultrasound examination. When conducting a study for a certain period of the intrauterine life of babies, one can even assess the heartbeat of each of them.
What is the probability?
Naturally conceived twins are less common due to multiple pregnancies. According to statistics, out of 250 births, only one end in twins. In this case, identical twins are born extremely rarely - in 4 cases out of 100 births of twins.
Such a relatively low likelihood of the birth of twins contributes to the fact that future parents who dream of several babies at the same time resort to a variety of methods of conceiving twins.
It should be noted that most of them are still folk. The only official way to deliberately give birth to twins is the methods of artificial insemination used in official modern medicine.
Contributing factors
Not every woman is capable of conceiving twins or triplets, but there is a number of factors that can affect the possibility of developing multiple pregnancies.
- Age of the future mother... It is believed that after 35 years of age, the chance to conceive twins naturally increases. Quite often, twins are born to women who gave birth at the age of 35-45 years.
- Genetic predisposition... Perhaps this factor is very important. Having twins in close relatives significantly increases the likelihood of developing multiple pregnancies. Scientists have not yet accurately identified the gene encoding the development of this predisposition, but statistics already clearly show this trend.
- Overweight... Women with a slight excess of body fat are also more likely to conceive multiple babies at the same time.
- Racial affiliation. It is believed that representatives of the Negroid race are somewhat more likely to give birth to twins than Asians.
- Shortened menstrual cycle. If menstruation occurs every month after 20-22 days, then the possibility of getting pregnant with twins increases slightly.
- Anatomical features... The development of multiple pregnancies can be facilitated by a special "two-horned" uterus. In this case, there is a small septum in the uterine cavity, which divides it into several sections. Such a pathology, according to statistics, is not so common - on average, only in 5% of cases.
- Repeated pregnancies. In some cases, the conception of twins can occur even if the couple already has one or more babies. If at the same time, other factors that contribute to the development of multiple pregnancies are combined, then the chances of having twins increase.
Interestingly, stopping oral contraceptive use can also promote multiple pregnancies. Conception of twins in this case is possible due to an altered ovulation process. The longer the previous use of oral contraceptives was, the higher the chance of multiple pregnancy. Cancellation of drugs in this case potentiates the release of several eggs at once.
Induced (artificially induced) stimulation of several eggs at the same time can also be a possible reason for the conception of twins. For this, certain drugs are used to stimulate the ovaries and regulate ovulation.
You should not take medications and then cancel them yourself. Do this only on the advice of your doctor. Oral contraceptives have quite a few undesirable side effects and may be contraindicated in certain diseases, as well as in the presence of individual intolerance.
Geographic conditions of residence also have an impact on the frequency of twins. In the small village of Kopan, which is located in the Ukrainian Carpathians, 54 pairs of twins were born in half a century (with a relatively small population of 3.5 thousand inhabitants). Locals believe that the whole thing is in the natural source that flows there. They even believe that this source has healing properties.
Similar amazing facts of the frequent birth of twins were registered in the village of Denisovka. This small settlement is located in the Rostov region. It is noted that 38 of the 500 local residents are twins. At the same time, residents themselves believe that the reason for such a frequent birth of twins is largely due to the fertile soil on which they grow their crops. The locals are so sure of this fact that they invite all couples who dream of the birth of twins to visit them. They are sure that even after a short vacation in their village, the possibility of pregnancy with twins is greatly increased.
How to plan the simultaneous birth of several babies?
Note that it is extremely difficult to significantly influence the possibility of natural conception of twins, however, there are a number of tips that can help in planning for twins.
- Take folic acid when planning your pregnancy. Some scientific studies show that women who take folic acid supplements at their recommended dosages before conception increase the likelihood of having twins by 40%.
- Maintain breastfeeding. In some cases, twins are conceived during lactation. If a woman is still breastfeeding her first baby, but does not resort to contraception, then in this case she has a chance of becoming pregnant with twins. The release of several eggs from the ovaries simultaneously in this case is facilitated by a certain hormonal background, which is formed during lactation.
- Consider the season... It is believed that during the warm season, the female hormonal background changes. In spring and summer, the chances of conceiving twins increase slightly.
- Try yams. This grain crop is grown and grown primarily in Africa and Latin America. There are suggestions that the high frequency of twins in black women is largely due to the fact that the basis of their diet for many years is yam products.
When planning a multiple pregnancy, it is very important to comply with the main principles of a healthy lifestyle. It is important for future parents to remember that their health indicators are very important even before the conception of a baby. So, prolonged smoking or drinking alcohol has an extremely adverse effect on the germ cells. This contributes to the fact that normal fertilization is difficult.
It is important to remember that multiple pregnancy is a rather large burden on the female body. If a woman is practically healthy, then it is easier for her to bear several babies at once, the presence of chronic diseases significantly complicates the development of a normal multiple pregnancy.
In order to conceive healthy babies, doctors recommend that the expectant mother, at least 6 months before conception, begin to lead a healthy lifestyle and get rid of addictions.
Can gender be affected?
Planning a baby's gender is perhaps one of the most important and intriguing questions for parents-to-be. Someone dreams of the birth of a little princess, and someone dreams of an heir.
It is almost impossible to influence the birth of twin boys or two little girls. At the same time, all advice and recommendations are only auxiliary in nature - there are still no one hundred percent guarantees after their implementation. Such recommendations increase the chance of twins by only a fraction of a percent, but there are times when such popular recommendations really work.
In planning sex, special tables are used, but they are advisory in nature, so the risk of conceiving "planned" boys or girls is quite low.
It is believed that a special diet can help conceive a boy. For this, the expectant mother at the stage of preparation for pregnancy is advised to consume a large amount of protein products. These include: meat, poultry, nuts, eggs. Regular inclusion of meals prepared with these products should help conceive boys.
The diet for the birth of girls is somewhat different - it is often called dairy-vegetable. In this case, various dairy and sour milk products, a lot of fruits and vegetables, as well as a variety of cereals must be included in the daily diet. At the same time, a strong emphasis is not placed on meat products.
Some mothers-to-be try to schedule the gender of the baby using a calendar. To do this, they use the date of ovulation and determine the most favorable time for conceiving a boy or girl. This principle is based on the biological properties of sperm, which carry certain genetic information.
For the birth of a boy, a Y chromosome is required. The baby can only get it from the dad, since she simply does not exist in the female body. If mom's X chromosome is combined with an identical X chromosome from dad, then a girl will be born.
Y chromosomes are usually more mobile, but less tenacious. They reach the eggs quite quickly, but if such a meeting for some reason did not occur, they die just as quickly. X chromosomes are less mobile and active, but able to remain viable for quite a long period of time. Such features are used by expectant mothers who plan the sex of babies by ovulation.
It turns out that the risk of conceiving a boy is high on the day of ovulation. A few days after ovulation, the likelihood of a little girl being born increases. It is important to note that this method is very relative - in practice, it often happens that the use of such a technique ended up with the opposite result.... It is extremely difficult to calculate the sex of a child using only the ovulation planning method.
In the next video, you will find even more information about multiple pregnancies.
