Gyn Chronicles
Twins And High Order Pregnancies
By Dr . Maureen Owiti
Twins have been in existence since the Biblical days . There has been speculation as to whether Cain and Abel were twins ( Genesis : 1-2 4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife , and she conceived and bore Cain , saying , " I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord . 2 And again , she bore his brother Abel .) From this it is not clear how long after she bore Abel whether it was a few minutes later or several years .
However , Essau and Jacob were definitely twins . These two brothers are certainly the best-known set of twins in the Scriptures . Isaac and his wife Rebekah are the first couple mentioned in the Bible to have twins . Genesis 25:22-26 says , “ The babies jostled each other within her , and she said , ‘ Why is this happening to me ?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord . The Lord said to her , ‘ Two nations are in your womb , and two peoples from within you will be separated ; one people will be stronger than the other , and the older will serve the younger .’ When the time came for her to give birth , there were twin boys in her womb .
The first to come out was red , and his whole body was like a hairy garment ; so they named him Esau . After this , his brother came out , with his hand grasping Esau ’ s heel ; so he was named Jacob .” The rest as we know is history .
Interestingly Thomas is speculated to be a twin . This is because the name Thomas in Aramaic a common language spoken around the time of Jesus means twin .
Castor and Pollux ( or Polydeuces ) are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology , known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi .
Their mother was Leda , but they had different fathers ; Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus , the king of Sparta , while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus , who seduced Leda in the guise of a swan . The pair are thus an example of heteropaternal superfecundation .
I ’ m from a tribe that has beautiful names , not wanting to kiss and to tell , for those who know one of my names is Apiyo . In typical Luo culture generally names beginning with ‘ A ’ denote a female while names beginning with ‘ O ’ will signify a male . “ Piyo ” means quick or fast so the first twin will be Opiyo or Apiyo depending on gender . The reverse “ Dong ’” means to remain behind therefore the second twin will be Adongo or Odongo . There you have it I am actually the first of twins , however my twin Brother transited to his heavenly abode , when he was just 3 days old .
In the modern setting it is interesting to note that natural twins have a very high prevalence in West Africa . Twin pregnancy occurs in about 0.6 % of all pregnancies in Asia , 1-2 % in Australia , Europe , and the United States of America , and about 4 % in Africa .
Benin ( The Land of Twins ) and the cluster of countries nearby is an area that has been spotlighted many times before for what appear to be staggeringly high rates of twins . Just east of Benin , the westernmost regions of Nigeria have some of the highest twin rates in the world .
In the modern setting it is interesting to note that natural twins have a very high prevalence in West Africa . Twin pregnancy occurs in about 0.6 % of all pregnancies in Asia , 1-2 % in Australia , Europe , and the United States of America , and about 4 % in Africa .
The incidence of multiple pregnancies has increased by 50 % since 1980 , making them more common today than in the past . About 50 % of twin pregnancies result from assisted reproductive technology , a treatment of infertility .
Identical twins , meanwhile , are most likely the result of a birth defect very early in development that causes the same embryo to divide - so rates of identical twins are constant worldwide . The difference in twin rates depends almost entirely on fraternal rates , the researchers report in the PLOS ONE study , which appears to be the most
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