Twins? - Scottsboro,AL

Hey N.,

Just want to say I feel your pain about bearing EVERYONE ELSE's wishes & dreams for your future babies. My brother-in-law just got married, and they're (mostly he's) saying how our next baby'd better be a boy if it's born before their first baby, because they want the first girl baby in the family. It's like, 'who the **** are you to even HAVE, much less express, such a preference for MY CHILDREN', not to mention that I passionately want a daughter and now I can't even express that desire without looking like I'm engaging in some ridiculous offspring rivalry ... anyway.

My folks -- and in-laws -- also tried the 'wishing twins on me' business, but they dropped it once they figured out that I wasn't going to play that stupid game. It's like a form of heckling, I think; the less interest and consternation you show in the discussion, the more they'll find other things to talk about.

Don't worry about what they want you to want. It's your (and, you know, your partner's) life and family, and the visions you have for your family's future are no one's property but your own.

Love and sympathy,
Mel

I have twins - fraternal girls...meaning I ovulated two eggs at once. Your chance of releasing two eggs at once is what you might have inherrited from your mom (although sometimes you hear it skips a generation!).

Anyone can have identical twins, although your chances are pretty low.

Twins really aren't THAT bad :) Yeah, they are hard during those first few months, but right now we are having a blast! The blessings of twins do outweigh the challenges.

If I were you, I'd just have some witty comeback for the people who keep wishing twins on you! It's not their body or their life or they need to realize that their comments are not helping you any or positive for you!

with fraternal twins, your chances are higher. It means your mom would ovulate 2 eggs at once and you have the possibility of doing it too. If you're really worried you could talk to your ob.

It depends on whether your mother had fraternal or identical twins. Identical twins happen when a single egg is released and is fertalized and then splits into two genetically identical babies. Fraternal twins occur when two eggs are released from the ovary and are fertalized, what results are two babies at the same time who are no more alike then regular siblings. If your mother passed on to you her trend to release two eggs each cycle then you have a decent chance, but having identical twins is not something that is heritable. Good luck!!

Not sure of the chances, but I got this a lot when we were first pregnant. My husband is a fraternal twin, he has two sets of twin cousins, I have twin aunts and my grandmother was a twin! It's starting again b/c we're talking about having another child and my sister just had twins!

Just smile and say- we'll see what happens. That's what we did- annoying b/c you want to say "I am very aware of the fact that twins run in my family- but thanks for pointing it out!". Twins are a novelty for people and they are just expressing an interest!

my great aunt on my dad's side had two sets of twins, boy-boy then boy-girl. i never dreamed that after my three boys that my attempt for a daughter would produce twin boys! you just never know what God has in store for you! just remember He won't give you more than you can handle.

Twins occur in 3% of births in the US. So, you have a 3% chance. Of course, if they run in your family, your chances are greater, but you really can't say how much greater. I wouldn't worry about it! We had twins the first time around, and now that we're trying for #3, we'll just have to wait and see if we end up having #3 and #4. Don't stress over something you can't control, and if you're blessed with twins, you'll survive!

I've heard that having twins happens every other generation, so maybe it will skip you???? Not sure if that's true, though. :)
If it's purely genetics, I would say you have a pretty good chance, or at least better than the average person. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear.