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Related Experiment Videos

Fecundability of female twins

K Christensen1, O Basso, K O Kyvik

  • 1Danish Twin Registry, Odense University Medical School, Denmark.

Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.)
|March 21, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Female twins do not have different fertility rates compared to singletons. This study found no evidence of reduced fecundability in female twins, even those with a male co-twin.

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Area of Science:

  • Reproductive biology
  • Human embryology
  • Twin studies

Background:

  • Animal studies suggest prenatal hormonal interactions between fetuses of unlike sexes can impact female fertility.
  • The potential effects of in-utero exposure to a co-twin's hormones on female reproductive capacity require further investigation in humans.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the fecundability (ability to conceive) of female twins differs from that of singletons.
  • To determine if the sex of a co-twin influences the fecundability of female twins.

Main Methods:

  • A questionnaire survey of 12,681 female twins born in Denmark (1953-1976).
  • An interview survey of 760 female singleton controls born in Denmark (1953-1966).
  • Comparison of pregnancy outcomes and time to conception between female twins (monozygotic, dizygotic same-sex, dizygotic unlike-sex) and singleton controls.

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Main Results:

  • No significant differences in fecundability or time to pregnancy were observed among monozygotic, dizygotic same-sex, and dizygotic unlike-sexed female twins.
  • Initial observations of shorter time to pregnancy in twins compared to singletons were attributed to data collection artifacts.
  • No evidence of reduced fecundability was found in female twins, irrespective of their co-twin's sex.

Conclusions:

  • Female twins do not exhibit altered fecundability compared to singletons.
  • Prenatal exposure to a co-twin of the opposite sex does not appear to reduce female fecundability.
  • Findings do not support the hypothesis of inter-twin hormonal interactions affecting female fertility in humans.