Fact or Fiction? The only chance a woman has of conceiving multiples (twins, triplets, or more) is if multiples run in her family or the baby’s father’s family.
Fiction. A woman also increases the likelihood of becoming pregnant with multiples if she:
• Is large and tall.
• Is older than thirty-five.
• Is Caucasian or African-American. (Multiples are less common in Asian and Hispanic women.)
• Had at least one other pregnancy.
• Used fertility drugs that increase the number of eggs released during ovulation.
• Had more than one egg implanted during procedures, such as in vitro fertilization.
Most of these factors affect only the rate of fraternal twins, triplets, or higher-order multiples, because the occurrence of identical siblings is an unpredictable and random event.
Excerpted from: Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn
© copyright 2016 by Parent Trust for Washington Children