During the last few years, it has become ‘fashionable’ for celebrities to have twins or twins in a very common way. Multiple cases of national and international celebrities have appeared on the media scene with their two newborns.
But what is the real origin of these pregnancies? Coincidence? Product of fertility treatments? Is a twin pregnancy actually a safe event for the mother and her babies.
In this blog we will try to answer these questions and demystify a little the concepts that exist regarding this type of pregnancy (you can learn more about a safe pregnancy on our blog).
To begin with, it is important to know that a woman’s body is designed to have only one baby inside her uterus. Therefore, a multiple pregnancy, whether of twins, triplets or of a higher order, is something that we consider, from a professional point of view, not so physiological and that exposes both the mother and the babies to certain medical risks. These risks include hypertension, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, placental problems, premature births, etc.
The percentage chance of a pregnancy, let’s talk about twins, in the general population is more or less 1% to 2%. That is, out of 100 women who get pregnant spontaneously, 1 or 2 will have double pregnancies. Pregnancies of triplets or of higher order by natural means occur in percentages of less than 1%.
However, when we practice assisted reproduction treatments, we try to improve the chances of achieving a pregnancy, so we seek to obtain a greater number of eggs and this increases the risk of having a multiple pregnancy, even up to 15% to 20% of cases.
It should be clarified that the objective of a Fertility treatment is that the mother has only one child, not two or three. A twin pregnancy is considered an adverse effect, not an ideal result, because complications can occur during pregnancy or childbirth, which are clearly greater if we compare it to a pregnancy with only one child.
However, many times couples with fertility problems, who have been looking for children for many years, see having a double pregnancy all at once as a solution; With this, the problem is solved definitively and they do not have to do future treatments. This applies to famous couples and couples of ordinary people.
It is also true that sometimes famous women They freeze their eggs when they are young, which leads to fertility treatments in the future that increase the risk of multiple pregnancies and this is not always something premeditated, what we see is that this news is much more echoed when it comes to popular people.
On the other hand, on many occasions, couples without fertility problems want to seek a twin pregnancy intentionally, but this is not something very recommended due to the risks that we have previously mentioned and I do not think that from a medical point of view, there is an assisted reproduction professional who seeks a twin pregnancy in an induced way. because it would put the future mother and her babies at risk.
If a twin pregnancy occurs, either naturally or as a result of assisted reproduction treatment, it is important to take all the necessary precautions to prevent complications. Among these precautions are monitoring the diet, avoiding weight gain, exercising and carrying out controls with a high-risk specialist. In most cases, a happy ending will surely be achieved.
Dr. Germán David Ospina
Gynecologist, Human Reproduction Specialist
inSer Group
