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Twins & Other Birth Multiples (Triplets, Etc.)

A soon-to-be-published study of Korean twins raised by different families in different countries identified some unexpected differences between the two subjects.
A Pair of Twins Grew Up in Different Countries, Then Scientists Compared Them

Researchers have taken advantage of a rare opportunity to study identical (aka monozygotic) twins who were separated early in life, before being raised in different countries by different families – and there are some surprising results to report.

Whereas IQ has been shown to be up to 80 percent heritable – with twins usually scoring roughly the same on cognitive tests – in this case there was a substantial 16-point difference between the siblings.

There were, of course, lots of similarities between the pair, but the differences were also notable, suggesting that there needs to be a rethink of how much of our intelligence is down to our genes and how much of it is down to the environment that we're brought up in.

"Similarities were evident in personality, self-esteem, mental health, job satisfaction, and medical life history," the researchers write in their paper.

"In contrast with previous research, the twins' general intelligence and non-verbal reasoning scores showed some marked differences." ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/pair-o...l-significantly-different-cognitive-abilities
 
Maybe, maybe not ... Identical twins are not strictly "identical" at the genomic level, but the differences are so subtle that much deeper genomic testing and analysis is required to detect them. These usually involve traces of differential genetic activity during development in the womb. Same basic "recording", but slight differences in the actual "playback", so to speak ...

My point is that such minute differences in the genomes - crossed with similar variations in the other set of twins - might make enough difference in the resultant babies to be noticeable.

My guess is the children will be notably similar in appearance (assuming they're of the same sex).

I don't know whether the babies would (or could ... ) be so genetically similar as to be ascribed as identical twins after a typical DNA test.

There's a distinction to be drawn between the strictly genetic and the genealogical aspects of this case. The terminology used in the twin couples' press release is confusing. The phrase "genetic sibling" is usually encountered as a genealogical term denoting children of a parental pair who are genetically descended from those same parents (as opposed to, e.g., being adopted). AFAIK it's a stretch to consider these prospective babies as "genetic siblings."

The term "quaternary multiple" is even more mysterious. A "multiple" is a member of a multiple birth event. Twins are therefore technically "multiples", but the term "multiple" is usually reserved for fraternal twins only. All members of larger sets (triplets; *-tuplets) are "multiples." As far as I can tell the term "quaternary multiple" isn't used in genealogy, genetics or medicine in reference to babies or lines of descent. I suspect it's something the two couples invented to connote double cousins* so genetically similar as to be akin to fraternal twins.

* The term "double cousins" is a known genealogical term. It connotes children of two parental pairs wholly comprised of siblings from two families (in any combination).

The prospective babies will definitely be double cousins. This is the only label cited that clearly makes sense.
Oh I didn't know there was a term for that! I had a friend at school whose parents were twins who married another set of twins and the families lived in two semi detached, next door to eachother, sharing gardens and everything. My friend was OK medically but her older sister had a twin who died at birth and the cousin had a weird medical condition where she only had baby teeth and would never get adult teeth. Got to be genetic!

My father in law was a non identical twin (his twin's been dead a few years now), and my grandfather had a twin brother and sister. (The sister died aged about 10, brother lived to be elderly). One of my sons married someone who has a non identical twin so any potential kids he has, will have a very strong likelihood of being twins, I'm guessing! My first surviving pregnancy was twins although obviously non identical too, as I lost one of them at 12 weeks but went on to carry the other one to full term. My oldest son says he does feel like something is "missing" sometimes - the twin he never knew.

Son is all Science and rationality - zero woo, in fact negative woo - but if asked, he will sometimes talk about it.
 
Looking after all of those twins on his own.

Ayopo Ogunleye, who has fathered five sets of twins, has become something of a local celebrity in western Nigeria.

He told BBC Yoruba he was now bringing up his children alone in the Ado-odo area of Ogun state as his wife left years ago after her parents complained that she was having too many twins. Now in his 40s, he is raising seven children as the couple lost the first set of twins as infants and a boy from the last set also died.

Mr Ogunleye said he had not been expecting twins the first time his wife conceived and was surprised when he was called from the hospital.

“When I heard that my wife had given birth, I asked if it was a boy or girl, and they said I had twins.”

This was a dream come true for him.

“I had been praying about it from childhood, I gave thanks to God. I hugged my wife and congratulated her.”

The Yoruba community, mainly found in western Nigeria, has one of the highest rates of twin births in the world.

Twins are called “Ibeji” and culturally they believe they have to be followed by a single birth - known as “Idowu”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-61754470
 
Woman gives birth to two sets of twins

In Boston US

Despite the odds, a woman has given birth to two sets of identical twins at once – there’s only a one in 10 million chance of this happening.
The newborns all arrived around 12 weeks earlier than expected, so according to spokesperson for the hospital, they’ll spend eight weeks in an intensive care unit to monitor their progress.

Ashley was at an appointment for a new batch of contraceptives when she found out the news she was pregnant.

Two weeks later, she was then told she was carrying two sets of twins – much to the shock of the ultrasound technician.

The technician actually left the room to Google if two sets of twins at once was possible, they were so surprised.

Ashley has an eight-year-old daughter and two stepsons, but had since gone through four miscarriages, so believed she wouldn’t be able to have any more children.
 
Looking after all of those twins on his own.

Ayopo Ogunleye, who has fathered five sets of twins, has become something of a local celebrity in western Nigeria.

He told BBC Yoruba he was now bringing up his children alone in the Ado-odo area of Ogun state as his wife left years ago after her parents complained that she was having too many twins. Now in his 40s, he is raising seven children as the couple lost the first set of twins as infants and a boy from the last set also died.

Mr Ogunleye said he had not been expecting twins the first time his wife conceived and was surprised when he was called from the hospital.

“When I heard that my wife had given birth, I asked if it was a boy or girl, and they said I had twins.”

This was a dream come true for him.

“I had been praying about it from childhood, I gave thanks to God. I hugged my wife and congratulated her.”

The Yoruba community, mainly found in western Nigeria, has one of the highest rates of twin births in the world.

Twins are called “Ibeji” and culturally they believe they have to be followed by a single birth - known as “Idowu”.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-61754470
'Fathered'? Twins are entirely the product of the mother's genetics...
 
I wonder if they did the tests for each other.

Teenage twins said they were "over the moon" after they passed their driving tests at the same time and place.

Alfie and Emma Willis, 18, from Scarborough, set off for their tests at 08.20 BST on 9 August and returned successful, just two minutes apart.

The pair even passed with an identical number of minor mistakes.

The siblings had not planned to take simultaneous tests but Alfie, who had a date set for December, secured a last minute cancellation via an app.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-62576376
 
Too many twins. Vid at link.

Six sets of twins start Derry school together

It can be a challenge for teachers to put names to faces and at one Londonderry school it could prove even more difficult. That's because six sets of twins are now part of the year eight group at St Mary's College and some of the sets are identical.

Principal Brendan McGinn admitted the teachers were struggling a bit telling some of the twins apart.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-63039089
 
The Nigerian city of Igbo-Ora - home to an unusually high percentage of both fraternal and identical twins - has recently celebrated this situation with its annual twins festival.
Nigerian city celebrates its many twins with annual festival

Twins appear to be unusually abundant in Nigeria’s southwestern city of Igbo-Ora.

Nearly every family here has twins or other multiple births, says local chief Jimoh Titiloye.

For the past 12 years, the community has organized an annual festival to celebrate twins. This year’s event, held earlier this month, included more than 1,000 pairs of twins and drew participants from as far away as France ...

There is no proven scientific explanation for the high rate of twins in Igbo-Ora, a city of at least 200,000 people 135 kilometers (83 miles) south of Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos. But many in Igbo-Ora believe it can be traced to women’s diets. Alake Olawunmi, a mother of twins, attributes it to a local delicacy called amala which is made from yam flour. ...

John Ofem, a gynecologist based in the capital, Abuja, says it very well could be “that there are things they eat there that have a high level of certain hormones that now result in what we call multiple ovulation.” ...

While that could explain the higher-than-normal rate of fraternal twins in Igbo-Ora, the city also has a significant number of identical twins. Those result instead from a single fertilized egg that divides into two — not because of hyperovulation. ...
FULL STORY (With Photos): https://apnews.com/article/oddities-health-lagos-nigeria-twins-fb7d1c25b8c3766cec2f7c2d77837536
 
All still hale and hearty.

The world's only nonuplets - nine babies born at the same time - are "in perfect health" as they celebrate their first birthday, their father has told the BBC.

"They're all crawling now. Some are sitting up and can even walk if they hold on to something," said Abdelkader Arby, an officer in the Malian army. They are still in the care of the clinic in Morocco where they were born. He said their mother Halima Cissé, 26, was also doing well.

"It's not easy but it's great. Even if it's tiring at times, when you look at all the babies in perfect health, [in a line] from right to left we're relieved. We forget everything," he told BBC Afrique.

He has just returned to Morocco for the first time in six months, along with their elder daughter, Souda, aged three.

"I'm overwhelmed to be reunited with all my family - my wife, the children and me."

They will just have a small birthday celebration with the nurses and a few people from their apartment building, Mr Arby said.

"Nothing is better than the first year. We will remember this great moment we are going to experience."

The babies broke the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered in a single birth to survive.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61318427

They're back home.

The world's only nonuplets - nine babies born at the same time - have safely returned home to Mali after spending the first 19 months of their lives in Morocco.

The babies broke the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered in a single birth to survive. Ahead of the birth in May 2021, the mother Halima Cissé, now 27, was flown to Morocco for specialist care. Before returning they had been living with medical support in Casablanca.

The babies - five girls and four boys - were born by Caesarean section at 30 weeks, according to the Malian authorities last year. The girls - named Kadidia, Fatouma, Hawa, Adama and Oumou - and the boys - named Mohammed VI, Oumar, Elhadji and Bah - weighed between 500g and 1kg (1.1lb and 2.2lb) at birth, Prof Youssef Alaoui, medical director of the clinic where they were born, told the AFP news agency.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63955055
 
They're back home.

The world's only nonuplets - nine babies born at the same time - have safely returned home to Mali after spending the first 19 months of their lives in Morocco.

The babies broke the Guinness World Record for the most children delivered in a single birth to survive. Ahead of the birth in May 2021, the mother Halima Cissé, now 27, was flown to Morocco for specialist care. Before returning they had been living with medical support in Casablanca.

The babies - five girls and four boys - were born by Caesarean section at 30 weeks, according to the Malian authorities last year. The girls - named Kadidia, Fatouma, Hawa, Adama and Oumou - and the boys - named Mohammed VI, Oumar, Elhadji and Bah - weighed between 500g and 1kg (1.1lb and 2.2lb) at birth, Prof Youssef Alaoui, medical director of the clinic where they were born, told the AFP news agency.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63955055
Earlier this summer the world's only surviving nonuplets celebrated their 2nd birthday, their first at home since spending 19 months in Morocco post-birth.

Video from Associated Press:
 
Stolen and separately sold shortly after birth, reunited by TikTok. A long, detailed, disturbing story involving generations of stilen children and illegal adoptions. Vid at link.

Amy and Ano are identical twins, but just after they were born they were taken from their mother and sold to separate families. Years later, they discovered each other by chance thanks to a TV talent show and a TikTok video. As they delved into their past, they realised they were among thousands of babies in Georgia stolen from hospitals and sold, some as recently as 2005. Now they want answers.

Amy is pacing up and down in a hotel room in Leipzig. "I'm scared, really scared," she says, fidgeting nervously. "I haven't slept all week. This is my chance to finally get some answers about what happened to us."

Her twin sister, Ano, sits in an armchair, watching TikTok videos on her phone. "This is the woman that could have sold us," she says, rolling her eyes. Ano admits she is nervous too, but only because she doesn't know how she will react and if she will be able to control her anger.

It's the end of a long journey. They have travelled from Georgia to Germany, in the hope of finding the missing piece of the puzzle. They are finally meeting their birth mother. For the past two years they have been building a picture of what happened. As they unravelled the truth, they realised there were tens of thousands of other people in Georgia who had also been taken from hospitals as babies and sold over the decades. Despite official attempts to investigate what happened, nobody has been held to account yet.

The story of how Amy and Ano discovered each other starts when they were 12. Amy Khvitia was at her godmother's house near the Black Sea watching her favourite TV programme, Georgia's Got Talent. There was a girl dancing the jive who looked exactly like her. Not just like her, in fact, identical. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68055420
 
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