12/24/2022
some things i have learned about twin pregnancies over the last few weeks of research 💡✨ (peanut emojis for these cute lil peanuts)
🥜 only 3.2% of pregnancies in the US are twins!
🥜 over 70% of those pregnancies (including these babes pictures above) are dichorionic-diamniotic or di-di twins. this means that there are two sacs, and two placentas. each baby has their own! the other types of twins are mono-di (two sacs, one placenta) or mono-mono (one sac, one placenta).
🥜 di-di twins are almost always fraternal and they start off as two eggs fertilized by two separate s***m. it used to be believed that di-di twins could ~only~ be fraternal, but we’ve learned that if a single fertilized egg splits early enough, each baby can grow it’s own sac and placenta, resulting in identical di-di twins! the only way to know if your di-di twins are identical is through a DNA test.
🥜 mono-di and mono-mono twins start as one egg that splits after fertilization and they are always identical
🥜 although you can have a spontaneous twin pregnancy with no genetic component involved, if someone in your immediate family (ie mother or sister) has twins, you are twice as likely to conceive di-di twins. this is because di-di twins are often caused by hyperovulation (when you ovulate more than one egg at a time) and hyperovulation runs in the family!
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