Multiple Facts and Fictions
By Lisa Glickstein, Ph.D., Triplet Mom
Originally printed in December, 2004

IDEA: The odds of conceiving triplets or more are going up.  "The odds of conceiving 
'spontaneous' triplets are about 1 in 8,100.  In the early 1980's, triplets occurred 
once in every 6,400.  Today, odds are that 1 in every 1,300 are triplets.  Over the 
last decade, increases in the number of triplet births averaged 11% a year."

FACT!  Although the actual numbers are even higher, according to statistics from 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA:

* Pregnancies associated with ART or ovulation inducing drugs are more likely than 
  spontaneously conceived pregnancies to result in multiple births (twins or more).  
  In 1996, 38% of all ART births were multiple births, compared with 3% of births in 
  the general population.
* Assisted reproductive technology (ART) accounts for a significant number of triplet 
  and higher-order births in the United States.  More than a third (38.7% for 1996 
  and 43.3% for 1997) of triplet and higher-order multiple births are attributed to ART.
* Following the introduction of ART in 1978, the ratio of triplet and higher-order 
  multiple births has more than quadrupled from 37 to 173.6 per 100,000 (1/2702 to 1/576) 
  live births from 1980 to 1997 respectively.

IDEA: Multiples are more likely to be left-handed.  "Did you know that up to 22 
percent of twins are left-handed?  In the non-twin population the number is just under 
10 percent."

FICTION!  This is from old research - newer studies have failed to find a link between 
multiples and handedness (also called dextrality - right-handedness - and sinistrality - 
left-handedness).  However, birth trauma and heredity are both associated with greater 
chance of left-handedness.

IDEA: Identical multiples always come in even numbers, so if you have identical triplets 
it means you lost one baby at some point in your pregnancy. 

Probably fiction!  Identical multiples develop from a single zygote (fertilized egg) 
due to separation of cells from the first few divisions, when all cells are totipotent 
(can develop into an entire baby).  Scientists still don't understand why this occurs 
(e.g. are the cells not sticky enough in some embryos, or is there a trauma involved 
or just random chance?).  Therefore, there is no reason to believe that the cells need 
to divide evenly (for example, in a four-cell embryo, two cells stuck together could 
develop into one baby and each of the other two could separate to form individuals - 
identical triplets!).

Vanishing twins (or triplets or more) do occur, as many of us know:  "Scientists 
have confirmed that the number of twin conceptions greatly outnumbers the number 
of actual twin births.  Some estimates offer that 1 in 8 people started life as a 
twin, while in reality only 1 in 70 actually are a twin.  In 'Having Twins,' author 
Elizabeth Noble claims that 80% of twin pregnancies result in the loss of one or 
both babies.  Other studies predict that Vanishing Twin Syndrome occurs in 21-30% of 
all multiple pregnancies in the United States.  It is estimated that Vanishing Twin 
Syndrome will play a role in 50% of assisted ovulation pregnancies."

IDEA: Caring for multiples is hard work.  "According to one Australian study, it 
takes 198 hours a week to run a household and care for triplets-30 more hours than 
there are in a week!"

FACT!  Of course it shouldn't have taken a research study to figure this one out!