The etiology of human dizygotic twinning with special reference to spontaneous abortions

The comparison of 622 twin and 622 singleton births allowed us to confirm the association of dizygotic twinning with maternal age, parity, and maternal weight and height, as well as the occurrence of unlike-sex twins in the mother's family. It was also shown that none of these associations, except for maternal height, can be explained by the others. Dizygotic twinning was also found to be negatively correlated with previous use of oral contraceptives and with irregularity of menstrual cycle. Finally, the relationship between spontaneous abortion in previous pregnancies and maternal exposure to medical irradiation was investigated.