I am curious to know how likely it is to have multiples without fertility treatment. If you don't mind me asking were your multiples conceived with or with out the help of a Doctor?

Thanks

[color=Purple]Hi Rachael ~ Although some people find it hard to believe, our twins were naturally concieved.
We didnt announce to family and friends until after 13 weeks and when we did it was at that point Mum explined the history of twins right back to my Grandmother being a fraternal g/g twin and my Grandfather is a b/b identical twin. They never had twins, and nor did any of their 8 children! So I may be a rare case, but the Doctor was pretty amazed too, he said their must be twins in the family, but we couldnt check until we got past the safe time...

I was really close to my grandmother and she has now passed away so it was like a little gift from her...

Your chances are increased dramatically of you are on Clomid for example, which I know is one of the first stages of fertility treatment.

We were thankful in a way that we didnt need IVF or any other fertility treatment, but would have done what ever it took to have a healthy baby, as I am sure everyone would.

I hope this helps a little! Please feel free to PM me and I can give you my e-mail address. Take care and would love to know of your progress! Your boys names are cute!

Haylie ~ 25
DH (Phil) ~ 38
DSD (Ebony) ~ 15
Our Family is soon to be 5 when our twins arrive......
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This message was edited by hayfilfy on Thursday, 10 March 2005 @ 8:15 PM

Hi

I have identical twins and they were concieved naturally - a total fluke as all MZ twins are. Identical or monozygotic twins (one egg that splits after fertilisation)can occur to anyone any time, it doesn't 'run in families' and it is not actually known why the split occurs.

Fraternal or Dizygotic twins (two eggs fertilised seperately) are sometimes said to 'run in families' but this has actually not been proven (yet) but it seems the tendancy to ovulate more than once a cycle is passed on from mother to daughter and possibly even from father to daught (which is why twins may appear to 'skip a generation'). So if there is twins on either of your parents families you are more likley to have a multiple birth.

You are also slightly more like to have twins if you are over 35 or if you take folate before becoming pregnant. I've also read that taking clomid only increases your chances of having twins by 10-15% which isn't that much really - though I can't seem to find the source of that at the moment so I might be wrong there.

This web page at the twins registry site has some good basic info on twins as well as some stats for Australian multiple births and some good links.
http://www.twins.org.au/infofortwins/factsandfigures.htm

Hope this answers some of your questions - I hadn't even remotely thought it was even possible for me to have twins so was prety shocked to find out there was two in there. So really it can happen to anyone!

Kate

Hi Rachael,

Our b/g twins were alsop concieved completely naturally, and I wasn't even 30 years old! I didn't fall into any of the categories that made twins more likely (I read some races, some age groups etc are more likely to concieve twins) and we don't have twins all through either side of the family either.
Dh and I are mad genealogists though and DH had one set of twins in his family and one set of triplets but these were about 50 and 150 years back on his Dad's side and none of them survived (in one of these cases they lost the mother too )
Well third time lucky for that side of the family as ours arrived safe and sound. It has since been rumoured that there are twin girls on my Mum's Mum side of the family but it's unclear where as my Nana has Alzheimers and is unclear about things, it's just a vague recollection for her.


Jo

Our fraternal twin girls were conceived while using Clomid for irregular ovulation and cycles. Our Dr did advise us of the increased risk of multiple birth, but I can't remember the %. It was the chance we were prepared to take. It was that or face the fact that there might not be any more additions to our family. Our family is now perfect!?

Sharyn
Mum to Meg14/4/99
Hannah & Josie 22/3/04 (33 wks)
<a href="http://www.tickercentral.com"><img border="0"src="http://www.tickercentral.com/view/2k3/1"></a>
Smile... and the world smiles with you!

Naturally conceived & I was 27yrs old. There's fraternal twins on my mums & dads side of the family.

Cheers

Justine
Nick
[img]http://www.geocities.com/jussy227/eb.3.txt[/img]

Jo

Your story is interesting as before we knew we were having identical twins and before we understood that that wasn't passed on genetically we went through all of my family's history looking for twins. It seemed that there may have been twins a few generations back which didn't survive and perhaps also again when only one baby survived as it seems they didn't record stillbirths etc very well back then. So could it be possible that there were twins in your family but because of the high risk of loosing one or both back then it was just never recorded???

Oh and for the record it makes no difference at all if there were/are fraternal twins in your partners family as no matter how great his sperm is they can't make you ovulate twice! But he may be able to pass that tendancy on to his daughters.

Do I sound like a walking twin encyclopedia??? It's only because I had to research and no all these facts and figures backwards before I taught the twins parenting classes... I was amazed at how much I didn't know and how much people get wrong about how twins occur!

Kate

Hi Rachel,
My twins were concieved naturally & very surprisingly...LOL...I don't 'do sex' if I can help it...LOL...We had sex twice in 3 months & viola! Here we are...
Jaki



[b]'Pip' & 'Pop' Due August.[b]
(I'm no longer in denial...LOL)

Hi Rachel
I conceived my fraternal twin girls naturally. I have no history of twins on my side at all! My doctor said to me that the chances of falling pregnant with multiples is higher as soon as you finish taking the pill because your body is trying to get back to normal and there is a chance of two eggs. I am only 29. I conceived only 6weeks after stopping the pill.
I have done heaps of reserach on twins and most of the old myths really are not true. But as my doctor said when I asked him how could I have twins when they are not in my family?... His reply.... "Jodi, they have to start somewhere don't they" I'm so glad they started with me.
hope this helps. feel free to PM me if you have any questions
have a great day
Jodi

Hi all,
My ID boys were naturally concieved and was our first attempt at a family.

I think it is hilarious how many people, mainly DH family and friends commented on his "super sperm" and told us "that is what happens where you do it twice in one day" like he did it all himself.

the most common questions I can across were
1 - Where twins planned?
and
2 - Did you have help? (worded that way)

oh, the un-educated...

Lauren (22)
DH (24)

<a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/">
<img border="0" src="http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/2;10600;34/st/20041101/n/Hamish+and+Dylan/dt/16/k/c92c/age.png"></a>

LMAO - Lauren!!!
My Partner calls himself "super sperm" LOL, gotta let him have a few minutes of fame. especially with mates over a beer! I just wink at him, he knows the truth
We constantly get asked - how did you manage that too..

Haylie ~ 25
DH (Phil) ~ 38
DSD (Ebony) ~ 15
Our Family is soon to be 5 when our twins arrive......
<a href="http://www.snugglepie.com"><img border="0" src="http://www.snugglepie.com/ezb/90603.png"></a>

This message was edited by hayfilfy on Friday, 11 March 2005 @ 4:34 PM

We are having fraternal twins due to being on Clomid. The doc warned us the chance of twins goes from 1 in 80 to 1 in 20 when you use Clomid.
We never expected to get twins, but now we are so glad - remind me I said that when they keep me up all night

Good luck

Hi Rachael
My story is freakishly the same as Jodi's!
I conceived fraternal twin girls naturally on the first attempt after stopping the pill. I am 29 & there is no history of twins on my side of the family dating back at least 4 generations.
My DH has a twin brother/sister but, as others have mentioned, this isn't relevant (although my MIL seems to think otherwise...)



Lisa
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CLUCKYFORTHREE ~ Hi there & hows things, we conceived our twins through IVF/FET we had been TTC since Jan 2002 our first IVF was in June of 04 which failed then our FET was our total sucsess.. We tried clomid six months before we did IVF but to no avail.. We where put onto a fertilty clinic after i was diagnosed with CIN3 (precancerous cells) and blockage in my tubes. Anything is worth ago, but what ever makes you feel comfortable. And best of luck with what ever path you may choose.




This message was edited by Jennifer72 on Friday, 11 March 2005 @ 9:43 PM

This brings up an interesting thought that has occurred to me a couple of times. I came off the pill in late January 2003, m/c in early April and then concieved the twins in mid-May and got my BFP on June 4th so it was all pretty quick.
I previously wondered if "getting twins" was due to hormone levels after a m/c but now wonder if it was to do with the pill? I had been on the pill for the 4.5 yrs since my first DD, and had been on it for approx 7-8 years prior to that. Maybe there's a connection??

Katef Yes I think there are very likely twins on my Nana's side of the family but we are not sure where, funnily enough her line is the only one I have not researched as she was born and raised in India and records there are very badly kept and also many were destroyed by military actions over the years.
She mentioned one day about their being twins girls in the family but couldn't tell us who. My uncle upon hearing this (and also my Mum) now recall that it sounds right to them..but again no way to confirm it yet.


Jo

[color=Blue]We TTC for a couple of years before finding out our chances of conceiving naturally were nearly zero! So, we were lucky enough (after many, many tests) to fall pregnant on our first round of ICSI.

Vanessa

Hi my answer is the same as Vanessa!


Maycee (35)
DH (33)
Twin boys (4/12/01)
DD (7/10/03)

My girl are all natural fraternal twins no help and no history of twins on either side but we lost a baby at 17 weeks and as soon as we were given the go ahead to try well we ended up with the girls, I got told that it may of had something to do with loosing our baby, but we will never know, maybe my age I turn 35 at the end of March who knows :-)

Mum to Carly, Bryce, Our angel Emma 24-12-2002,Taylor and Kasie.

Hi,

Our boys were natural and we had no idea about twins but half way through my pregnancy we found out that my great grandmother had twins but lost them so they are the first surviving twins on my dads side. So we are the lucky ones.(not unlucky like many family members think)

Kristy

DS 8
Twin Boys 2

My twins were concieved naturally and are identical! This is my 5th pregnancy and only one set of twins here! I was only 21 at the time and have no history of twins anywhere!




This message was edited by sinegrant on Monday, 14 March 2005 @ 6:09 PM

I have conceived 3 sets of twins naturally...
The first set are boy/girl twins
The second set are fraternal boys
And I lost a twin out of the third set at around the 10 week mark and went on to deliver a lil girl (now aged 5) I feel her twin was also a girl...
No twins in my family that I can find!!
So very very freaky!!

Tammy
mum to ds10,ds9,dd9,ds6,ds6,dd5,ds14mths

Just wanted to say wow! That's quite amazing Tammy! What a wonderful family.

Maycee (35)
DH (33)
Twin boys (4/12/01)
DD (7/10/03)

I have boy/girl twins conceived naturally with no history of twins in the family. I was 33 when I fell pregnant so maybe it was my age but I think it was to do with coming off the pill. My cycles were stuffed up for about 6 months after coming off the pill and I don't think I was actually ovulating and then all of a sudden 'twins!'. I'm now pregnant again but only one baby this time.

Cheers, Wendy

Finn and Poppy (14/7/03)

My girls are fraternal and were conceived naturally. I was 27 at the time and there are no known twins anywhere in my family. But like Jo (Zebette), we fell pregnant with the girls shortly after a m/c. I remember reading at the time that you are more fertile for the first three months after a d&c. Not sure how "true" it is or if this is how it happened for us, but I do give this reason to people who just can't seem to get over the fact that twins don't run in our family.

Ana.

The irony with us is that DD1 was concieved using clomid, while our b/g twins were totally natural

go figure

Cheers

Mags

I am pg with fraternal twin boys due to IVF.

But................when pg with DS they found at 12 week scan that I had been pg with fraternal twins, but unfortunately lost one. All natural that time.

More spooky is that my sister has identical twin boys conceived naturally!

The only other sets of twins are also born to family members of our generation not earlier.

It's the hormones in the chicken I blame!!!!!!





TWIN BOYS - FIT TO BURST
DS Barnaby 13


This message was edited by Gracie on Tuesday, 15 March 2005 @ 4:50 PM

HI

My DS and DD were conceived thru our 4th IVF, we had also done 5 FETs. I was a little stunned when we found out we had 2 on board but oh so happy:)

Fast forward to January this year and we did a FET using embryos from the same batch.......We have our 2nd set of twins on the way.

For a woman who was told she would never have children I am thumbing my nose at the DRs LOL

Tammy---- Any advice for me??? My DS and DD will be 3 when the new babes arrive:)

Hi,

My boys are ID and were conceived naturally. I am an ID twin myself and the doctor was quite surprised. The boys were conceived when i was taking birth control - so they were definently meant to be!!

Rach

Rach (26), BJ (35)

My boys - Aidan & Keenan
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My MZ girls were conceived naturally the first month we were TTC - my Mum and sisters told me we were the uber-fertile family and now I see I've inherited the gene (lucky us compared with infertility but still a bit of a challenge to control!). Hence my DH will be going for the snip very soon!!