Is having twins really because of heredity?

Some people may wish to have twins. However, the phenomenon of twins often leaves you wondering and confused. Where did twins come from? Is it necessary to have twin offspring to have twins? Or do you have to jump over a new generation of twins? Check out the explanation about twin pregnancy here.

How do genetic factors determine the chances of getting pregnant with twins?

Genetic factors have an important role in determining how much chance a couple can have twins. If one of your parents has twins, it is very likely that you will have twins in the future. The reason is, your body can carry the twin genes that are inherited from parents.

Even so, these inherited twin genes are more likely to produce non-identical twins aka fraternal twins than identical twins. Fraternal twins are the result of two eggs being fertilized simultaneously. This may occur when the mother's body is hyperovulatory, which is releasing more than one different egg cell at a time. Usually, only one egg is released each month by the ovum.

Simply put, fraternal twins are a pair of children produced from a different sperm-egg pair. Then the DNA of the two fraternal twins will be different. This is also the reason why many of the fraternal twins do not have similar faces and other physical characteristics, and most are pairs of boys and girls.

Only the genes of the mother can pass on to the offspring of twins

Only your maternal genes will pass you the chance of having twins at a later date. The reason is, the formation of these genes occurs during the hyperovulation period of women while the father only acts as a gene that carries twins. Confused?

Put it this way: Suppose you are a woman born to a father who has twin mothers. That is, your grandmother is a pair of twins. Your father himself was not born twins. However, if you are already paired and planning to get pregnant, you have a big chance of having fraternal twins. This is because you inherited the twin genes from the grandmother that your father brought you. For the next generation, your daughter is also more likely to bear twins because you inherit the same genes from you.

It is not known what specific genes cause a woman to get pregnant with fraternal twins. However, the hormone FSH, aka follicle-stimulating hormone, is suspected to be a factor. Mothers who have high FSH levels are more likely to have fraternal twins.

Not all twins descend

Although genetic factors have a strong enough role to determine the chance of multiple pregnancies, but not all cases of twins come from hereditary history.

Identical twins are very rarely caused by genetic factors. Identical twins are formed from one egg and one sperm that fuse to form a zygote, like most single pregnancies. However, after the division process, the zygote will divide into two embryos. Furthermore, these two emryos will grow and develop into two prospective babies. This division of the embryo occurs spontaneously and randomly.

Therefore, even though it is unlikely, all couples can get pregnant with twins even though they do not have twin offspring in the family.

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