Twins & Multiples

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What Are the Chances of Having Twins Twice?

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Most moms consider themselves lucky enough to have one set of twins, but if you’re incredibly lucky, then you might even end up with two pairs of twins. So what are the chances of having twins twice?

What Are The Chances of Having Twins?

The birth rate for twins is only going up, rising by as much as 76% in the last 30 years. That means that your chance of having twins in the USA is as high as 3 in 100 births.

But that’s fraternal twins. The chance of identical twins is the same as it’s always been, which is around 3 in 1000 babies born as identical twins.

So What Are The Chances of Having Twins Twice?

Obviously, the chance of having two sets of twins is pretty rare, but it’s not as rare as you might think.

If you’re looking for two sets of twins of any type, the chance of that is around 1 in 3,000, which is the same chance as getting struck by lightning during your life!

Twin pregnancy

A set of identical twins and fraternal twins is only around 1 in 10,000, or the same odds that you’re going to fall off your toilet and end up in hospital!

Having two sets of identical twins is pretty damn unlikely, with only 1 chance in 70,000.

Bear in mind that if you’ve already got one set of twins, you might actually be more likely to have a second set, because of all of the things that increase your chances of twin births. Things like:

  • Having already been pregnant before. Women who have already had a baby, including women who have already had twins, are more likely to have twins in the future!
  • Getting older. Women over the age of around 35 have more twins in general, because in the few years before you hit peri-menopause, your ovaries start to release more than one egg at a time.
  • Having some sort of fertility treatment, like IVF or fertility drugs. These sort of things can stimulate your body to produce multiple eggs over and over.
  • Coming from a family with twins in it. There’s some sort of genetic component to twins, and if twins run in your family, then you’re more likely to have them. This also means that if you’ve had twins once, they might run in your family and you might have them again!
  • Being on the pill, or just coming off of the pill. Apparently, the hormonal changes that the pill causes in women can increase their chances of having twins.
  • Being taller or heavier than average. Taller and heavier women have a greater than normal chance of having twins. But remember to stay healthy!
  • Make sure your partner has a lot of zinc in his diet. Zinc contributes to healthy sperm, and the healthier your partner’s sperm, the more you have of chance of conceiving twins!

Twin babies are getting more and more common, so if you have one set of twins and you’re going for another, you might just get lucky!

How do you think you would cope with two sets of twins? Do you know anyone who actually has two sets of twins? Or maybe you’re one of the incredibly fortunate women who beat the odds and has an awesome foursome! Let us know in the comments below!

42 COMMENTS

  1. Me! I’m 17 weeks pregnant with my second set of twins (both di/di). My first set were conceived with the assistance of fertility treatment (IUI), then I had a singleton conceived naturally and I’m pregnant with twins again, conceived naturally this time. I’m not particularly tall or big, I’m under 35 (currently 34 and was 29 having my first set), I haven’t been on the pill for years and hubby’s sperm counts are ok but not great. I’ve only been pregnant 3 times. I was on only 25mg (half a tablet) of clomid for 4 cycles over 5 years ago so that’s all the fertility drugs I ever took. It explains the first set but not the second set. I think that family history is my biggest influence; my nanna had 2 sets of twins and a set of triplets; my mum is one of the triplets. I’m the only one in my large extended family who has had any multiples at all so it looks like the twin gene skipped straight to me!

      • I made the same choice and never got over it! It was the best choice for me and husband at the time due to having two young children, health issues and postnatal depression! We now have another baby girl and are expecting twins in December. I’m not saying it will happen but I’ve been blessed and truly am over the moon. Good luck you had your reasons who knows what’s going to happen every child is a blessing hope you find strength and happiness

      • I miscarried my twins and I am kind of hoping I have a decent chance of conceiving twins again, someday…even though twins sound like a really tough pregnancy and infancy…there’s just something special about them

  2. I’m 24 years old and pregnant with my second set of twins. No fertility treatments or help . My first set of twins are boy/ girl fraternal twins . And are turning a year old in a month. My current pregnancy are identical boy (mo/di) twins. They will be here in June or before. So I got one set of each , not on purpose , but definitely blessed.

    • My first set of twins will be 6 this year, and i just found out im pregnant…Roughly 4 weeks and nervous i’ll get blessed with another set!!! did your doctor tell you what the odds are for women to have another set? I’m freaking out. I started lactating about a week ago too and was told that’s because my body is quick to prepare for a baby…
      Any advice is great!

  3. I am currently 28, and 17 weeks pregnant with my second set of twins. Fraternal twins boy/girl set. My first set of twins are fraternal twin girls they are four now. Never thought this would happen to me. I am not overweight, not y’all only 5’1 and am under 35. So this just shows that it can happen to anyone. Both sets conceived naturally. Only been pregnant twice, so I guess I can help honestly say I’ve been blessed . Good luck to you all.

  4. I’m 12 weeks pregnant with my second set of mo/di (identical) twins. I have identical boys who just turned 4. Never thought in a million years we’d have 2 sets of twins. I’m 34, no fertility treatments, no family/genetic history of twins. Just blessed!

  5. My lucky mother had two sets of twins! Myself and my twin sister were 2 years old when my younger twin brothers were born. (Two newborns and two 2 year olds back home; you can imagine how busy my parents soon became). Both sets of twins are fraternal. My family does not have any history of twins previous to us, however my mom was around 35 when she had my brothers and was on and off the pill as well. So I’m sure that all of that –mixed with some weird luck, would have done the trick.

  6. My mother had one set of identical girls and the next pregnancy was fraternal twins (1 boy, 1 girl) within 2 years. We have two single siblings for a total of six children (4 pregnancies) no treatments. No known family history back then (I’m one of the oldest twins, we are 47 now) but recent research shows a single incidence of twins on each side of the family each many many generations back; 5 on my Dad’s side, 10 on Mom’s.

  7. In 2013 I had “fraternal” boys. In 2016 I had mono-di (identical) twins. Today I got the DNA results back from my first set of twins and they are indeed, IDENTICAL! Two sets of identical twins! We were told that wasn’t possible. Trust your motherly instincts!

    • Does your first set of twins look alike or do they look different? Just curious. I have fraternal twin girls. They look similar as siblings usually do, but they also look different as well. One favors me and the other favors my husband.

  8. My daughter was pregnant with two sets of Identical twins and no fertility drugs were used. First set of identical twins are boys (3yrs old) and her current set of Indentical twins are girls (1month old). As the grandmother I am amazed and puzzled but feel so blessed.

  9. I’m 6 months pregnant with my second set of Di/di twins. My first twins are 2. My OB told me it was so unlikely to happen again that I should not even let it cross my mind. But here we are! I am short, underweight and 29 years old. No fertility treatment. First set I had just come off birth control so I thought maybe that contributed to it, but I had been off birth control for a long time before conceiving this set. I had one Singleton before the first twins as well. Crazy stuff. Never imagined doing this again.

  10. I am wonderfully blessed with 2 sets of twins fraternal boy and girl both times. I already had a 2 year old son when I gave birth to the first set. Twins run on my maternal and paternal side. My grandfather on my mothers side was a twin and my great grandmother on my father side was an identical twin. My twins are 15 and 11 and I can truly say this has been an adventure.

  11. My Aunty had 1 set of fraternal twins then another set of fraternal twins.

    My first pregnancy was with fraternal twins, second was only 1, however i had 2 placenta’s again!

    I am pregnant again and wondering if it will be twins….. chances are it won’t LOL

  12. My boy girl twin are currently 3 years old.
    I am currently pregnant with another set of fraternal twins.
    *They say every second generation on your mother’s side for fraternal*
    This seems to be accurate… My Mother’s sisters are fraternal.
    I was the last of 18(+) grandchildren & the only one to conceive twins.
    Twice lol
    We are extremely blessed

  13. Just found out we are having our second set! We had no intervention, and no known family history. We have a singleton 3, b/g twins-1, and now the new peanuts. We will have 5, 3 and unders for a while. Pretty shocked here!

  14. I’m the proud mother of two sets of twins, the older set (B/G) turn 30 in April and the younger pair (B/G) have recently turned 19. One sister also has B/G twins and my youngest sister is about to give birth to two girls any day now. We have no history of twinning in our family and none of us has had any fertility treatment however I was 37 when I had the second set and my younger sister is 42 now.

    • Hi, I know this comment is almost a year old now, but I have to ask… How are you managing with two sets of twins only one year apart? I ask because… I gave birth to two beautiful twin girls (fraternal) this past August. I’m absolutely over the moon with them, but, at the same time a little overwhelmed sometimes. I’m now pregnant again (accidental) and terrified I am going to have twins again. I honestly cannot imagine having four babies in diapers at the same time. Don’t know if I can handle this physically, mentally or financially. My husband pretty much lives at work to support our family so it’s pretty much just me holding down the fort here… So it would be nice to hear from someone who currently has two sets of young twins so close in age.

  15. I’m 33 with 5 kiddies and 16 week pregnant with my second set of twins my first set was boy girl so can’t wait for 20 week scan to find out these, these are miracle babies as my husband has been through a year of intense chemotherapy but two years off treatment here we are so we beat all the odds of having any more

  16. My paternal grandmother had 2 sets of fraternsl twins. My dad & his twin sister, Antone & Antoinette, were the oldest. Grandma had 2 boys a few years apart followed by a 2nd set, Paul Lynn & Paulette Lynda. Sadly only Paul Lynn(youngest) is still with us from that family of 8. Dad passed on in Dec 2017 & his twin Jan 2019. The other 3 deceased left us before the oldest & youngest of that family.

  17. I just read this article to find out the chances of having a 3rd set of twins . I have two sets of fraternal twins now and one single baby between them. Just having a possible pregnancy scare and I feel bad bc I think I’m the only one here who was scared to death of having twins again

    • Don’t feel bad — I have two sets of twins and would not want another twin pregnancy! Twin pregnancies are no joke and there is a lot that can go wrong. And caring for twins is also a lot — particularly when you have other littles. We are lucky that our twins were all healthy and truly full term (38 weeks and 40 weeks 5 days), but we know many families that weren’t lucky and lost one, both, etc. I’m happy the factory is closed!

    • Hi, I have to ask… How did you manage with two sets of twins only one year apart? I ask because… I gave birth to two beautiful twin girls (fraternal) this past August. I’m absolutely over the moon with them, but, at the same time a little overwhelmed sometimes. I’m now pregnant again (accidental) and terrified I am going to have twins again. I honestly cannot imagine having four babies in diapers at the same time. Don’t know if I can handle this physically, mentally or financially. My husband pretty much lives at work to support our family so it’s pretty much just me holding down the fort here… So it would be nice to hear from someone who has had two sets of twins a year apart.

  18. IM Samantha and im 29. I hadn’t my first Serb of fraternal twins in 2011. 2 boys. Now I’m pregnant with my 2nd set of identical twins. Having twins is awesome and a amazing experience, so I’m excited to see what it’s like having another. Happy Mom of 4 boys

  19. Hi I’m 23 I have 4 kiddos my youngest are fraternal twins that are 2year old had them when I was 20. I had my tubes tied. Husband is wanting more. Just here to see how high my odds are with having another set is. Lol

  20. My wife and I had two sets of twins. 17 months apart. FirstSet (one placenta two sacks ) are identical and second set ( two sacks two placenta) 100% sure are fraternal. Definitely been an interesting ride. All four are boys. We were told after the second set that her chances of conceiving another set or triplets jumped to 80%. No pills or extra help all natural.

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