Follow us for updates
© 2020 reportr.world
Read the Story →

Number of Twins Being Born at 'All-Time High,' Researchers Say

Seeing double?
by Agence France Presse
7 hours ago
Photo/s: Shutterstock
Shares

More twins -- almost one in 40 children -- are being born than ever before, according to research published Friday, citing the rapid rise in medically assisted reproduction as a major factor.

More than 1.6 million twins are now being born every year, researchers said in a paper published in the scientific journal Human Reproduction.

"The relative and absolute numbers of twins in the world are higher than they have ever been since the mid-twentieth century and this is likely to be an all-time high," Professor Christiaan Monden, of the University of Oxford (UK), one of the study's authors, said. 

The rise of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in developed countries since the 1970s contributed to the rise in multiple births, they said, as did mothers giving birth at an older age, when twinning rates are higher.

ALSO READ:

SWS: Majority of Filipinos Think Teen Pregnancy Tops Women's Problems

Teenage Pregnancies are Rising Under Quarantine, Here are Their Stories

Continue reading below ↓

Increased use of contraception, women choosing to start families later in life, and lower overall fertility were also responsible. 

Researchers gathered data from 135 countries from 2010-2015 for the study.

ALSO READ:

Millions of Women Deprived of Contraception in Pandemic: UN

The rates of twin births were highest in Africa, they said, citing "genetic differences" between the continent and the rest of the world.

The increased number of twins in poorer parts of the world was concerning, one of the researchers said.

"Twin deliveries are associated with higher death rates among babies and children and more complications for mothers and children during pregnancy... during and after delivery," Monden said. 

"More attention needs to be paid to the fate of twins in low and middle-income countries," co-author Jeroen Smits said.

"In sub-Saharan Africa in particular, many twins will lose their co-twin in their first year of life, some two to three hundred thousand each year according to our earlier research."

Continue reading below ↓

Researchers said the record number was solely driven by births of "fraternal twins" -- which derive from two separate fertilized eggs.

The number of identical twins -- known as monozygotes -- remained the same.

ALSO READ:

Babies Made During COVID Lockdown are Born, Giving Hope for 2021

Latest Headlines
Read Next
Recent News
The news. So what? Subscribe to the newsletter that explains what the news means for you.
The email address you entered is invalid.
Thank you for signing up to On Three, reportr's weekly newsletter delivered to your mailbox three times a week. Only the latest, most useful and most insightful reads.
By signing up to reportr.world newsletter, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.