Teachers in Scotland are getting ready for double trouble as 13 sets of twins are set to start school in one local authority area this September.
As the adorable tots get set to start school this Wednesday, Inverclyde in Scotland will have over 80 sets of twins in primary schools throughout the region. Fertility experts believe twins only make up 1 in every 67 pregnancies, so locals have been left wondering if there is ‘something in the water,’ with twin rates growing each year.
Mom of twins Charlotte and Morgan, Sara, told The Independent: “They are very excited – we’ve had a countdown on the fridge all summer and they’re really looking forward to it. They will be will be in the same class. [The school] asked my opinion and although they get on very well they aren’t so close that I thought it would be a problem for them to be taught together.”
Desperate to join these parents in adding two to your brood? Check out these six factors that increase your chances of having twins or multiples:
Your family history. Yes, that’s your history, not his. In fact, even if your partner has twins in his family, it makes no difference.
Your lifestyle. Women who have a low-fat diet, especially vegans and vegetarians, are less likely to have twins or multiple babies than someone who drinks whole milk and eats meat. There’s also an idea that if you become pregnant when you are on the pill, or soon after coming off the pill, you are more likely to get pregnant with twins, as your body is going through a hormonal readjustment phase and more eggs can be released.
The number of children you already have. Research suggests that the more children you have had, the more likely you are to conceive twin babies. Another theory to be aware of — your chances of having twins is thought to be higher if you already have them!
Your maternal age. Naturally conceived twins and tripets are more common in women who are in their 30s and 40s. The theory here is that as your body reaches the end of it’s fertile life, it panics a bit and releases more than one egg.
Where you’re from. Another interesting one — Western Europe sees around one in 60 twin pregnancies, meanwhile in Nigeria, twins make up one in every 20 or 30 pregnancies!
Fertility treatments – Obviously if you have your heart set on conceiving twins, one of the most reliable ways to boost you likelihood is to have fertility treatment. Of course this can be expensive, but when IVF was first developed in the 1970s, the rates of twins pretty much doubled.
This post was originally written for Mother and Baby.
