what are the chances of me having twins?

Question

my mom is a twin. my grandmother had a set of twins (obviously).
and my aunt had a daughter who had twins. i don't know any farther back then that because my mom's side of the family isn't very close. but anyways i was wondering if any of you would know what my chances of having twins is?

Answer 1

Hi! I'm the mother of identical twins so I hear these types of questions alot. I've also done a ton of reading on the subject. Here's some facts:

1. Identical twins are from one egg that splits. It's a random act of nature and not impacted by age, ethnicity, family history or fertility drugs. ALL pregnancies have a 1 in 250 chance of being identical twins.

2. Fraternal twins occur when the female produces two eggs and both are fertilized. Older women have an increased chance of twins, it's more common in African Americans (less common in Asians and Hispanics), and women on fertility drugs are "at risk" for twins.

3. Family history is relevant only if the twins are fraternal twins. Researchers believe there is a "hyperzygocity" gene which causes females with this gene to produce more than one egg per cycle. That's why "twins run in families". If the twins in your family are fraternal twins then there is an increased chance you will have twins.

4. There are alot of myths out there about twins. People think they skip generations because they don't realize that an increased chance does not translate to guarantee! When you do decided to start trying to conceive be sure to discuss your family history with your doctor. He/she might want to do an early ultrasound to see if it's twins.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Here is some information I found on a website, I have attached the link below so you can read more if you like!

- You'll increase your odds of having twins/multiples if....

- You live in Massachusetts or Connecticut. A 1999 study found that rates in these states were at least 25% higher than the national rate in the United States.

- You take fertility drugs or undergo other fertility treatments. No one can deny that the availability of fertility enhancements has increased the multiple birth rate, but no study seems to conclusively pinpoint the impact. Some estimate that the chances of having twins after fertility enhancing treatment is as high as 1 in 38. Others estimate that using the drug Clomid increases your chances to 1 in 5.

- You, your mother, or her mother's mother is a fraternal twin.
These women may carry a gene for hyperovulation, which means they release more than one egg during an ovulation cycle, increasing their ability to conceive fraternal twins. The chances may be high as 1 in 17 if the mother is a fraternal twin herself.

So there is your answer! If you, your mother, or your grandmother are one of twins then you have a 1 in 17 chance of having twins!

If this is not what you were hoping for then the weblink I attached does have some information on how to decrease your chances of having twins.

Hope I was able to help!

Answer 3

Well, fraternal twins run on the women's side of the family. The male doesn't have anything to do with it because it has to deal with how many eggs the women releases (which has been linked to genetics). My mother had twins, my great grandmother had twins and two of my mom's female cousins had twins. Well, I'm pregnant with my second baby and both pregnancies have been singleton pregnancies. You probably have a pretty good chance but to say for sure I think is nearly impossible.

Answer 4

Fraternal twins (the kind that result from a woman dropping more than one egg in a cycle) run in families. It's either a genetic predisposition to hyper-ovulation or else a pharmaceutically induced one (ie: fertility drugs caused a woman to drop multiple eggs in the same month). Fraternal twins tend to run down the maternal side of families. So having a husband who has twins in his family means absolutely nothing to you. Having a mother who was a twin and HER mother's sister was a twin and your Aunt's daughter has twins, that's relevant. Fraternal twins occur much more often than identicals.

Identical twins are caused by one fertilised egg splitting into two genetically identical emryos. Identical twins are random a random occurance.

To answer your question, though, your chances are much better than someone who doesn't have all those twins on the maternal side. And if you have fraternal twins once, and then get pregnant again, THEN your chances of having twins again goes right up to 50/50.

By the way, people who answer questions here give out alot of misinformation. You should NEVER rely on a yahoo message board for medical advice, not even mine!

Answer 5

In my family, my grandfather on my dads side is a twin, the only other twins in the entire family are my adopted twin sons, who are biologically my cousins. My dads sister. Thats it....in some families there may not be any twins, in some families there may be a few sets. I dont know if there is a way to look that up online. Did ya try to google it? Maybe it could give ya odds, but i think it really depends. Also are the twins in your family faternal or identical, if more then one egg drops, that could be dependant on the woman herself....im not sure how that works though! I have twins, but like i said adopted blood relatives....i was scared to death i would have twins this time around since my husband has twins in his family and i have them in both sides of mine, but i am pregnant and its only 1!!! good luck! Twins are awesome though let me tell ya, raising them is something else!

Answer 6

the twin gene is passed down from the your mothers side of the family so if there are twins on your moms side of the family your chances are 50/50

Answer 7

Yes you could have twins, but some times it skips generations and then your child could have twins or it could stop all together. Its really weired I know, My aunt had twins they died, and her daughter had twins. my mom had twins and they died, but I have not had twins and i hav 3 children. my husband's grandmother had twins and 1 of them twins had twins also. so u never know. oh grandmother also had twins that died also. so be carefull take care of yourself no ruff housing, early preg is very reasky. take care:) PLEASE>>>

Answer 8

ok needless to say twins run on your loved ones so there's a danger. as to your remark "as my bro has had twin is there a stable danger that something people wont have twins as he has had them" it would not artwork like that.....

Answer 9

your chances are high but it is not always the first one... i have had twins on every female member of my moms side but i am prego with only one... thank god... its my first... but i could still have twins the next time... so good luck... twins are in the possibility

Answer 10

babycenter.com says all woman unless IVF have only a 2 to4 % chance of twins. But I think in some cases like your family it amy be higher