Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy. Expecting Multiple or twins is possible when one egg (ovum) splits before implanting or when separate eggs are each fertilized by a different sperm.
1 in 250 pregnancies results in twins naturally. Women have higher chances of twins pregnancy with IVF treatment. Chances of twins in a normal pregnancy is around 6% while the chances of twins with IVF reaches up to 25%.
A. Vanishing Twin Syndrome is a type of miscarriage. The loss of a twin during pregnancy can occur in first trimester .The baby that doesn’t develop fully is called the vanishing twin. During the first trimester loss, the tissue of miscarried twin is usually reabsorbed by the surviving baby and its mother‘s body.
A. At time , unusual events do happen during fertilization or early stages of twin pregnancy that can lead to unique twins. Some of them Mirror image twins , Conjoined twins , Parasitic twins , Semi-identical twins , Boy/girl identical twins.
A. When two fetuses share one placenta, their umbilical cords may implant anywhere, and depending on where they implant, one fetus may get less share of the placenta than it’s another twin, resulting in less blood flow and nutrition to one fetus, with more to the other. As a result, identical twins inspite of sharing the same genetic material might grow differently.
A. Some of the risks include early delivery or Preterm labor , low birthweight , birth defects , Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome(TTTS) etc.