Photo credit: Twins, by Joelle Inge-Messerschmidt/PhotographyByJoelle.com

Twins can occur naturally in any woman at any time. However, there are certain factors that increase your chances of having twins.

These factors include:

Family History:
  • Having a maternal history of twins or other multiple births increases your chance of becoming pregnant with twins considerably.

Cultural Background:
  • People of African American descent are more likely to have twins or multiple births. People of Asian or Hispanic descent are less likely to have twins.

Age:
  • Your chances of having twins increases as you grow older. Women produce more ovulation-stimulating hormone as they age, increasing your chance of releasing more than one egg during ovulation. The chance of having twins rises to 4% between the ages of 30 and 34, and to 5% between the ages of 35 and 39.

Previous Twins:
  • If you’ve already had twins, it is more likely that you will have another twin pregnancy.

Previous Pregnancies:
  • Women who have had four or more previous pregnancies are the most likely to have twins.

Fertility Drugs:
  • Taking fertility drugs or undergoing fertility treatments can significantly increase your chances of having twins or another type of multiple births. In some cases, women can increase their chances of having twins by up to 20%.

Weight Gain:
  • A study by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology linked the recent rise in multiple births with the steady rise of obesity in North America. Women with a body mass index (BMI) over 30 are more likely to have twins than those in the suggested BMI range of 19 to 25.

Increasing Your Chances of Having Twins:
  • So, are there any proven methods to increase your chances of having twins? Well, there are a number of ways that you can go about trying to have twins, but, as with anything, there are no guarantees. Having twins is mostly down to luck, although there are a few things you can do to help Lady Luck along.

Focus on Nutrition:
  • Women who are well nourished are more likely to have twins or multiple births. So focus on eating well and eating enough to maintain a healthy weight.

Eat Yams:
  • Yams, a type of sweet potato, have also been linked with multiple births. A tribe in Africa whose diet consists mostly of yams was recently found to have exceptionally high rates of twins and multiple births. Yams are thought to contain chemicals that stimulate hyperovulation, increasing your chances of conceiving twins.

Try Fertility Drugs:
  • Though not recommended unless you are suffering from fertility issues, fertility drugs do seem to greatly increase your chances of having twins. The fertility drug clomiphene (Clomid) increases your likelihood to 8%, while menotropins (Pergonal) increases your likelihood to 18%. Fertility drugs do cause side effects though and should never be taken without the supervision of a medical doctor.

Try Fertility Treatments:
  • Fertility treatments are also associated with higher rates of multiple births. In-vitro fertilization involves implanting more than one embryo into your uterus, which means you are more likely to conceive twins or higher-order multiples. Like fertility drugs, fertility treatments should not be undergone without approval from a medical doctor and are usually reserved for couples who are having difficulties conceiving.

Full article: Increasing Your Chances of Twins

---

TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Brotherhood of Joseph: A Father's Memoir of Infertility and Adoption in the 21st Century
by Brooks Hansen

-- Offering men a chance to be heard and women a rare opportunity to view the struggle with infertility from a male perspective, The Brotherhood of Joseph brings to life the anger, frustration, humor, heartbreak, and sense of helplessness that come to dominate the husband's role.

As his remarkable account reaches its finale in Siberia, however, Hansen's once again becomes the story of a husband and a wife who, even after years of medical frustration and fruitless paperwork, still must take one last risk together and trust in their most basic instincts before their new family can be born.

Start reading The Brotherhood of Joseph on your Kindle in under a minute!

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

---

• Halle Berry was 41 when she and Gabriel Aubry, 32, had Nahla Ariela Aubry on March 16, 2008.

• Salma Hayek was 41 when she and Francois-Henri Pinault, 45, had Valentina Paloma Pinault on Sept 22, 2007.

• Naomi Watts, then 38, and Liev Schreiber, 39, had Alexander (Sasha) Pete Schreiber on July 25, 2007.

• Nicole Kidman was 41 when she and Keith Urban, 40, had Sunday Rose Urban on July 7, 2008.

• Jennifer Lopez, then 38, and Marc Anthony, 39, welcomed twins Max and Emme Muniz on Feb. 22, 2008.

• Marcia Cross was 44 when she and Tom Mahoney, 49, welcomed twins Savannah and Eden Mahoney on Feb. 20, 2007.

• Jane Hajduk, then 42, and Detroit native Tim Allen, 55, had Elizabeth Allen on March 28, 2009.

Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20090405/FEATURES01/904050337

Photo by www.msnbc.msn.com
Report finds number of births to women over 40 rises

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - At 63, while many of Judith Cates’ peers are contemplating retiring to Florida, she’s taking her 5-year-old twins to pizza parties and picking up toys.

Just keeping the girls’ hair combed can be a full-time task.

Full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6593933/

Photo by nubuck
Found this on FertilityFriend today:

Photo by http://www.star-telegram.com/

Amy and Stephen Smyk of Vestal tried unsuccessfully to start a family for more than seven years.

"We went through batteries of tests," said Smyk, now 38. "There was no reason why we couldn't get pregnant."

So they turned to fertility drugs for help. Within two months, Smyk was pregnant with Kara, now 3. The drugs also helped her to conceive Hannah, who turns 9 months old this week.

"Without this help, I don't know if we could have had healthy pregnancies," said Smyk, who described her daughters as a "complete and utter blessing."

Cost of treatment

The Smyks are among an estimated 10 percent of couples across the United States who have difficulty conceiving children. About 5 to 7 percent of them turn to fertility treatments for help, said Dr. James Kondrup, a Vestal gynecologist who treated Amy Smyk.

Locally, numbers of couples seeking fertility treatments have dropped from a high of 15 patients per week back in the early 1990s to four or five patients per week. That's due to the loss of jobs suffered by the Southern Tier and cutbacks in insurance coverage, Kondrup said.

"Patients cannot afford to pay for fertility treatments out of their pocket," said Kondrup, who's been practicing in Broome County for 20 years.

Treatments range from $50 for one cycle of five pills (the most common option being Clomid) to $2,000 for one cycle of injectable treatments, called gonadotropins, he said. Some insurance companies cover the cost of treatments while others don't. Smyk's insurance covered two rounds of injections -- enough time to help her conceive.

Seeing double

One of the side effects of using fertility drugs is multiple-birth pregnancies -- which Beth Wolfer of Berkshire experienced after injecting fertility treatments. Evan and Larissa will turn 3 years old in March.

The chances of having twins increases by 5 to 10 percent if a woman takes Clomid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's extremely rare -- almost impossible -- to have triplets or more when using that drug.

Women who use gonadotropins see their chances of having twins rise to 15 to 20 percent, and there's a 5 percent chance of having triplets or more with the injectable form, the CDC reports.

Either way, multiple births have a higher chance of complications such as low birth weight -- which occurs in 5 to 10 percent of pregnancies. Evan weighed just 1 pound, 7 ounces while Larissa weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces when they were born prematurely.

"There were times we didn't know if we they were going to make it," Wolfer said of herself and her husband, Matthew.Today, the twins are doing well with the help of speech, physical and occupational therapy, she said.

Is it worth it?

Both Smyk and Wolfer say they advise any couple trying unsuccessfully to have children to try fertility treatments.

"The science is out there to do it," said Wolfer, 40. "It can work."

Both women say they don't regret all the shots, the countless trips to the doctor's office and the long wait to become a mother.

"It's a roller coaster of emotions", Wolfer said. "It's not easy. But it's all worth it."

Source: http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080127/LIFESTYLE/801270333/1004/LIFESTYLE

Recent Keyword Searches: risks of having a baby at 40 years old, can woman get pregnant at age 45 and higher, is it possible to get pregnant at 43?, can you get pregnant at age 55, is it easy to get pregnant at 45?, how to be pregnat when you are 50 years old ?, can you become prgenant in perimenopause, oldest woman to get pregnant, can you become pregnant at age 50?, is it possible to get prenant at age 48

A government agency that regulates UK fertility clinics has called for a national strategy to reduce the number of multiple births that occur after fertility treatment. One way of reducing multiple births is to reduce the administration of fertility drugs, which would drive down sales volume. However, this could result in more IVF cycles and may ultimately lead to higher revenues in the sector.

The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), a governmental authority that regulates and inspects all UK fertility clinics that provide assisted reproductive technology (ART), has called for a national strategy to reduce the number of multiple births that occur after fertility treatment. Almost 40,000 British women will have infertility treatment in 2007, and more than a quarter of in vitro fertilization (IVF) conceptions result in multiple births, which are far more likely to result in premature or other forms of problematic births.

The potential negative consequences of multiple births

Many assisted pregnancies have led to multiple births following excessive follicular stimulation in ovulation induction cycles and multiple embryo transfers, which are practiced in order to increase the chances of success. European and US registries of assisted reproduction indicate that 25% of IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles result in twins and another 3-5% result in higher order multiple pregnancies. In addition to the potentially fatal ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), multiple pregnancies have been associated with a statistical increase in maternal risk for obstetric complications, congenital malformations and long-term neurological conditions, and lower gestational age and birth weight.

The wider implications of multiple births must also be considered. The healthcare costs of neonatal and delivery services are increased for multiple pregnancies and the pressure of raising more than one child can generate familial complications of a psychological, social and financial nature which are further exacerbated by disability.

These concerns over mother and baby safety have seen a move towards milder stimulation protocols in recent years and Datamonitor predicts that this trend is set to continue. Shorter stimulation protocols involve a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist co-treatment with a low-dose gonadotropin and single rather than multiple embryo transfer. The HFEA has announced that they expect multiple birth rates to fall so that they account for just 10% of all IVF pregnancies and have called on professional bodies to develop an all-encompassing, national strategy to ensure this prediction is met. Work on these guidelines is due to begin immediately and with the first discussion scheduled in February 2008, change for the UK infertility market is imminent.

Winners and losers

There are around 80 clinics in the UK that offer some form of infertility treatment. While 30% are NHS practices, private patients can also be treated there. The market is boosted by partial reimbursement of treatment, making assisted reproductive technology (ART) accessible to more than just the very wealthy. Datamonitor estimates that in 2007, 38,000 British women were willing and able to have infertility treatment and based on this, forecasts the UK infertility drug market to be worth around $95 million. Additionally, Datamonitor forecasts the seven major markets (the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) combined to be worth $3.5 billion in 2007, the majority of which is generated by three large pharmaceutical companies: Ferring, Merck Serono and Organon.

A reduction in the number of multiple births will have several impacts on current treatment cycles. The transfer of a single embryo is likely to be enforced and the use of mild stimulation protocols is likely to become more widespread. Market players will feel the result of a reduction in the administration of gonadotrophins as a reduction in sales volume. However, the shorter stimulation protocol and the transfer of a single embryo may allow more IVF cycles to be conducted within the same period of time as conventional treatment. More cycles will require more drugs and with careful management of pricing and reimbursement strategies, revenue may even increase.

A key consideration in this debate is the infertile couples themselves. For some, the desire to conceive may be so great that they are willing to risk the complications of a multiple pregnancy. Others will prefer the safer, faster and less expensive mild stimulation protocol, and the ethics of removing a patient's choice must be considered. In Belgium, as a result of savings made in reducing multiple births, a reimbursement system has been funded which allows couples six IVF/ICSI cycles in a lifetime. Results the first year after implementation show an increase in the total number of treatment cycles is advantageous for the industry and patients alike.

Other market forces

As infertility treatment becomes more accessible, the improving success rates of IVF treatment across key markets will continue to boost the number of cycles initiated. As a European expert told Datamonitor: "As IVF becomes a more standard procedure, the more confident we become that these children are doing well, the more it will be liberally employed."

Additionally, a range of embryological techniques, such as in vitro maturation, cryopreservation and microarrays are currently being refined and will rapidly expand the treatable patient population as all women with the intention of preserving and protecting embryos will be eligible for treatment, not just those that are infertile. The trend towards later parenthood will also increase the number of women eligible for infertility treatment. Given these factors, growth of the infertility market looks certain. With careful monitoring of the regulations called for by the HFEA, the trend towards single births has the potential to benefit both the patient and infertility industry while delivering the ultimate goal, a much desired, healthy child.

Source: http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/article_feature.asp?guid=60991E20-1D6E-4209-A71A-D99DC3CF843E

Technorati Tags:ivf, infertility, fertility, art, premature, twins, birth, multiples, embryo, conception, icsi, ovarian,