The birth of fraternal twins can present a unique set of blessings and challenges parents. The majority of the twins are going to be fraternal twin’s, which means that there were two eggs that were fertilized. This is different from identical twins, where one egg was able to separate into two eggs in order to become two distinct lives. Fraternal twins can be of either gender and they can be a combination of boys and girls. This is because they originate from separate conceptions.
Statistics About Fraternal Twins Gender
1. People who are a fraternal twin have a one in 17 chance of having twins themselves.
2. The odds of having three sets of twins that are fraternal are one in 500,000.
3. The odds of having one set of identity and one set of fraternal twins is one in 10,000.
4. Once a mother has twins, the chances of having another set of twins quadruples.
5. Fraternal twins occur in one out of every 90 live births.
6. Caucasian Americans have the greatest chances of having fraternal twins the birth rate of 14.5 in every 1000 births.
7. The Chinese have the lowest rates of fraternal twin births, occurring in just one in 250.
8. One out of every 50 people in the United States is a fraternal twin.
9. The most common position for twins during pregnancy is in the vertex position. This occurs in about 50% of pregnancies today.
10. Fraternal twins can be conceived at different times and they can be conceived by different fathers.
11. Up to 2% of the fraternal twins that are born today will actually have different fathers.
12. Fertility treatments are a common cause of having fraternal twins occurring during a pregnancy.
13. Diet, the age of the mother, and even birth-control pills can all influence the chances of having a multiple birth pregnancy. Many of these factors only impact fraternal twinning and not identical twinning.
14. The average length of pregnancy mother that has fraternal twins: 36 weeks.
15. Over 50% of twins are born before the 37th week.
16. About 35% of twins are left-handed. This is more than double the rate of the general population.
17. A woman named Mary Jonas, who died in 1899 had 15 sets of fraternal twins.
18. Rate in the United States over the past three decades: 70%.
19. In 2009, one out of every 30 babies that was born in the US was a twin.
20. About 40% of twins invent their own languages.
21. Research has documented that twin fetuses as early as 14 weeks begin to reach out for each other.
22. By 18 weeks, twins in the womb are in physical contact with each other about 30% of the time.
23. The combined age of the world’s oldest twins: 204.
24. In examining the records of over 59,000 women over 170 years, the University of Utah discovered that moms who have twins tend to live longer than moms you don’t have any.
Gender Chances with Fraternal Twins
The gender chances of a fraternal twin pregnancy are; 25% chance that a mother will have two boys, 25% chance that a mother will have two girls, and 50% chance that a mother will have a boy and a girl. On the other hand, identical twins are always the same gender. Whereas identical twins will be genetically seen, fraternal twins are genetically similar just like any other siblings would be. They share about half of their DNA with each other. That’s because each child receives half of their DNA from mom and half from dad.
What makes fraternal twins a joy to the families that have them is that they may or may not look alike. They might also act similar or act very differently. They can be as different as two siblings can be, but still be twins. They might have different hair colors, different statures, and different personalities. Because they are raised in the same home environment and share the same experiences, most fraternal twins wind up with more similarities overall than differences. This creates a lifelong close connection that other siblings are unable to experience.
By knowing the statistics about the gender of fraternal twins, we can all begin to understand this unique relationship a little bit more.
Chances of Having Multiples
It is true that having twins can be a challenge. There are twice as many mouths to feed. There are double the diapers. Yet there are also double the rewards and that is something that every parent can enjoy.
What is unique about the gender of fraternal twins is that you’ve got equal chances to get the gender combination that you want. You have a one third chance to have two boys, two girls, or one of each. No matter what the gender of the twins might be, there are still individual learning pathways that occur. One twin may be smart and aggressive, while the other twin might be shy and laid-back. That is the joy of parenting twins.
One of the less pleasant experiences of being the mother of a fraternal twins pregnancy is the increased level of morning sickness that occurs. This is most likely due to the increased levels of the hormone hCG because of the second fetus that is present. Having a fraternal twins pregnancy also requires a higher level of weight gain for many women, and by the 30th week, many mothers are already at the full gestation size of a single child pregnancy. This creates numerous challenges in regards to muscle strains, joint aches, and other physical ailments that can be extremely bothersome.
As most mothers will testify, however, having twins is a definite joy. It is not something that they would never trade any experiences are truly unique. There might be a lot of people who come up to the parents of twins to tell them that they have their hands full, but they have their hands full in a very good way.