The birth of a long-awaited child in a family is always a joy. And if two or more babies are born at once, happiness increases in direct proportion to their number.
Let's talk about the factors that contribute to the development of multiple pregnancy, as well as the differences between identical and opposite twins.
Who are considered to be twins?
Twins are called children who were born as a result of one pregnancy. Moreover, they can be of the same or different sexes. Despite the fact that the people have two concepts: twins and twins, medicine recognizes only the first name. But he divides it into two types: identical and heterogeneous.
Future parents need to know about some of the nuances of multiple pregnancy.
Firstly, children in any case will be crowded in the womb. Therefore, it often happens that one of them lacks placental nutrition. In addition, such babies are usually born with insufficient weight and may lag behind their peers in physical development. A little later they begin to hold their heads, sit, crawl, walk and so on.
Secondly, the birth of twins is not only double joy, but also an increase in the number of worries. After all, both babies need to be equally fed, changed, bathed, and so on.
As for the pluses, these include the early social development of such children. They used to learn to communicate with each other before their peers. By 10 months, they have developed friendships, they are able to experience jealousy if the parents are busy with their brother or sister. Twins before the age of one can get upset when they do not see each other and begin to get bored.
Identical twins
If the fertilized cell is divided into several parts, each of which continued to develop separately, each of the embryos will receive the same set of genes. It is in this way that the conception of identical (monozygotic) twins occurs . Such babies usually develop at about the same pace, they are always the same sex and very similar in appearance. Although there are times when children have mirror features. For example, one of them may have a mole on the right cheek, and the second on the left and so on. In addition to all this, identical twins usually have similar temperaments and characters, have the same interests.
For a clear example of how identical twins look, the photo below is provided.
For normal pregnancy, the division of the egg into several parts is not typical, therefore, cases of the birth of monozygotic twins are not so common.
Non-identical twins
It is they who are popularly called "twins." Why are twin brothers born? The reasons for a multiple pregnancy of this type are that there is a simultaneous fertilization of several eggs. Moreover, each of the embryos develops independently, and future children can be of the same or different sex. To have an understanding of what the twins look like, look at the photo below, it will serve as an example.
As you can see, the similarities between them are the same as those of ordinary brothers and sisters.
Non-identical twins also differ in temperament, interests, and character traits.
With increasing age of a woman, the likelihood of multiple pregnancy increases. Although the birth of heterogeneous twins is primarily associated with a gene predisposition.
Gemini identical and different: what are the differences
Summing up the above and supplementing it with new information, we can distinguish the general differences between identical and opposite twins.
- The method of fertilization, which occurs as a result of the division of one or simultaneous fertilization of several eggs.
- In the womb, heterogeneous twins each have their own placenta and amniotic fluid. For identical people, they can be either different, or one for two.
- Appearance. The identical twins are often similar to each other as two drops of water, and in some cases even their parents cannot distinguish between them. The heterosexual people have different appearances, and similarities are possible only as between ordinary siblings. They may even differ in hair color, face shape, blood type and its Rh factor.
- Character. The identical twins are usually similar even in their behavior and preferences, while the identical twins develop in completely different ways and can be complete opposites to each other.
What contributes to the birth of twins?
Why does it happen that in one family there may even be several pairs of twins, and in another, babies are born exclusively one at a time? There are several predisposing factors due to which identical and opposite twins are born. In each of the cases they differ, therefore we will consider them separately from each other.
The birth of identical twins contributes to:
- the presence of oxygen deficiency;
- exposure to toxic factors on a pregnant woman;
- woman's age over 30 years.
Non-identical twins can be born in the presence of one or more factors:
- ECO;
- taking hormonal contraceptives over a long period of time or their cancellation;
- hereditary predisposition;
- abnormalities of the uterus;
- stimulation of ovulation.
In addition to all this, there is a relationship between multiple pregnancy and racial affiliation. According to statistics, Africans have a much higher chance of becoming pregnant with twins than Asian women.
Signs of multiple pregnancy
How to determine that the family will soon have identical or opposite twins? The most accurate way is, of course, conducting an ultrasound scan (ultrasound). In addition, a multiple pregnancy can be judged by the too rapid increase in the uterus and the mismatch of its size to the term. Such information can be obtained from a gynecologist, who must pay attention to this during a mandatory examination.
Another point is the presence of a large abdomen in the early stages. Not always, but in many cases this also indicates that several babies will be born at the same time.
Easy pregnancy!