The 'concerning' rise in twin births
The rate at which U.S. women are having twins has climbed dramatically, worrying some experts since twins are born earlier and smaller than solo babies
You're not seeing double — the number of twins born to American women has shot higher over the last three decades, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control, with some troubling ramifications. Here's what you should know:
How sharply have twin births risen?
The twin birth rate climbed by 76 percent between 1980 and 2009. At the start of that period, 189 out of every 10,000 babies born in the U.S. was a twin. Twenty-nine years later, that figure had jumped to 333 out of 10,000. That means that as of 2009, 1 in 30 American newborns was a twin, while in 1980 only 1 in 53 were. And the twin birth rate is rising even faster for older moms — more than 200 percent for U.S. moms in their 40s.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Why the big change?
Two reasons. First, women are waiting until they're older to have kids, and older women have older eggs which are more prone to twinning. About 2 percent of moms 24 or younger have twins, compared to 4 percent in their late 30s, and 7 percent in their 40s. The second factor is an increased use in fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization, in which several embryos can be implanted at one time. That ups the odds of success... and of twins.
Isn't this good news?
Yes and no. For older women who'd worried if they could ever conceive, "having twins is a blessing," Barbara Luke, a Michigan State University expert on twins, tells the Associated Press. But the trend is also "concerning," says Linda Carroll at MSNBC. Most twin newborns do well, says Joyce A. Martin, the study's lead author, but "twins tend to be born earlier and smaller. Their mothers are more likely to require hospitalization. And the twins themselves are more likely than singletons to require hospitalization." One solution: Many infertility centers now implant one embryo at a time.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sources: Associated Press, MSNBC, USA Today
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published