There are two types of twins, and they occur in two different ways…

Fraternal twins• not identical• two eggs are fertilized at the same time

Identical twinsIdentical twins• identical• formed when one fertilized egg divides

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Chances of multiple birthsTwins: 1 in 90Triplets: 1 in 8100Quadruplets: 1 in 729,000

Twins and Multiple BirthsTwins and Multiple Births

first set of octuplets born alive, in Houston TX, in 1998

news on multiple births

McCaughey septupletsGosselin twins & sextuplets

identical quadruplets

van Tol quintuplets

triplets

Multiple BirthsMultiple Births

Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 200,000 births. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of pairs born alive have abnormalities that do not allow them to survive. The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25%.

Some conjoined twins can be separated surgically, and some cannot.

Conjoined twins

Perhaps the most famous pair of conjoined twins was Chang and Eng Bunker (1811–1874), Chinese brothers born in Siam, now Thailand. They traveled with P.T. Barnum's circus for many years and were billed as the Siamese Twins. The brothers married two sisters, Adelaide and Sarah Yates, who were neither twins nor connected themselves. The couples were married in 1843 and produced 21 children between the two families.

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Some Modern-Day Conjoined Twins

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Abby & Brittany

facts

Animals can be born conjoined too!

Biracial Twins

Biracial Twin Sisters.webloc

Twins-One Black, One Whi#C0AA03

Vanishing Twin Syndrome

Vanishing Twin Syndrome #C0BEC6

when one of a set of twin/multiple fetuses disappears in the uterus during pregnancy. This is the result of a miscarriage of one twin/multiple. The fetal tissue is absorbed by the other twin/multiple, placenta or the mother.

Surviving twin

“Disappearing” or miscarried twin