The world has more number of twin humans now than ever before
While it’s necessary that we should keep ourselves updated about what’s happening on the climate front- because our survival may depend on such info- keeping abreast of all the dystopian realities climate change unleashes can be a downer.
I was prowling for news/ articles/ videos on the science-internet the other day in the hope that I would find some useful information related to the topic.
That’s when I came across this totally unrelated yet scientific news that the world is by all reckoning seeing the highest number of twins in its history.
Before proceeding any further, let it be made clear that this has nothing to do with climate change(Thank God!) But I was fascinated by the news nonetheless.
Researchers came to the conclusion about a world-record by analysing birth records from over 100 nations. They say that there has been a significant rise in births of twins since the 1980s. One out of every 42 persons now born is a twin. That’s about 1.6 million kids in a year.
In the last forty years, the birth-rate of twins has increased by an average of one-third, says the study.
The main reason for this rise is the increased use of IVF or in vitro fertilisation methods in different countries. Twin births can happen in two ways. One is when an egg that’s fertilised splits into two halves. The other is if two eggs are released by a female and both of those eggs get fertilized.
In the first case, identical twins are born. In the latter case, non-identical kids are born.
In IVF, more than one embryo may be transferred into the womb simultaneously. It’s speculated that this is a major reason for the rise in twin births.
IVF treatment has become even more widely available in the past few decades. Especially in developing countries. Along with hormone treatment and IVF, another reason for increase in twin childbirths is late parenthood.
The chance of naturally conceiving non-identical twins goes up as you get older. And it hits the peak between ages 35 and 39.
Globally, there is a trend of late parenthood, and that could also be a contributing factor for the present record.
I think almost all of us would know at least one pair of twins in our life. If not in your own family, maybe in your neighbourhood or place of education.
So far, I have known precisely two pairs of twins, one is my cousins and the other constitutes two kids whom I used to go to school with.
They are both sweet pairs of kids. At least, that’s how they were when I used to meet with them frequently- when I and they were rather young.
But despite having them as examples, the twins that shaped my conception about the phenomenon the most are all twins in movies- and by movies, I mean here horror films.
For some reason, horror film makers always tend to portray twins as evil.
Much as my affection for films is, I would hope that those filmmakers are wrong. Otherwise, we could well be facing an unprecedented level of evil in human history!
