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It seems lately like there is something in the water that’s producing more twins with the incidence of twin births increasing day by day. This article will go over why the number of twins in pregnancy is increasing and signs that you may be carrying two or more babies.

There are two major reasons why more and more pregnant woman are having twins. One is the age of the mother when she get’s pregnant, and the second is that more and more women are using assisted reproductive technology and fertility drugs to help them get pregnant.

Statistics have shown that women over the age of 35 have a greater chance of conceiving twins than someone younger (and the likelihood of having twins as you get closer to 50 is even higher). The reason some doctors believe this is so, is that as a women approaches menopause, her body starts releasing more eggs each month to reduce the supply for when she finally does get there.

And of course it seems many more woman are having difficulty getting pregnant these days and are turning to the medical professional to help improve their fertility. Using ovulation-inducing drugs like Clomid can increase a woman’s chance of having twins and other assisted reproductive technologies including IUI and IVF has been known to produce many multiple births (think Nadya Suleman – Octomom, and Kate from Jon & Kate plus 8).

Of course having more than two babies at a time is still very rare.

It may even be likely that twins run in your family. If either your mother or grandmother had twins then it’s possible that you may also carry the gene that releases more than one egg each month.

Signs that You Might Be Pregnant with Twins

1. Gut Instinct – while this isn’t a guarantee that you are, sometimes women just ‘know’ that they are carrying more than one baby.
2. Higher hCG levels and increased morning sickness may indicate more than one baby.
3. Exaggerated Pregnancy Symptoms – if you feel like you are getting a double dose of pregnancy symptoms such as extreme tiredness, extra sore boobs and swelling, it could indicate a higher amount of hormones racing through your body for those twins.
4. Higher than average weight gain – If you find you’re putting on much more pregnancy weight than you are supposed to and still eating healthy it might mean that you are carrying twins.

But of course the only real way to know if you are pregnant with twin is when your care provider confirms two separate heartbeats on the Doppler or you have an ultrasound and see both babies. Ultrasounds can detect twins as soon as six weeks pregnant.

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