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Why rising 'twinning rates' have become the new normal worldwide

WION Web Team
Paris, FranceUpdated: Mar 12, 2021, 04:38 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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The study was conducted from 2010-15 in 135 countries concluding that increased use of contraception, women choosing to start families later in life, and lower overall fertility was responsible for the phenomena.

According to a survey, the birth rate of twins has been the highest in the world since the 1980s, with one in 42 people now born a twin.

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In a paper published in the scientific journal Human Reproduction, over 1.6 million twins are now being born every year with the birth of twins reaching peak rate as "twinning rates" have reached their highest compared to the past 40 to 50 years.

The study was conducted from 2010-15 in 135 countries concluding that increased use of contraception, women choosing to start families later in life, and lower overall fertility was responsible for the phenomena.

The research found twin births was highest in Africa with a steep rise witnessed in North America at 71 per cent, Europe at 60 per cent and Asia at 32 per cent.

The researchers pointed out that the record number was solely driven by births of "fraternal twins" which is derived from two separate fertilised eggs while the number of identical twins known as monozygotes remained the same.

The rise in the birth of twins was also due growth of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in developed countries since the 1970s, the study found.