Author: Diana

“On the math of multiples:” A triplet mom-to-be and journalist writes about her experiences so far in Canada’s National Post.

According to an article in the Portsmouth Herald online, New Hampshire’s Senate Bill 78 received a hearing in the state’s legislature Wednesday. The bill gives parents a say in determining whether their multiples will be placed in the same classroom. Note that the original bill gave parents final say, but the bill, in its current form, gives allows school principals a say, with an appeal process for parents.

A detailed article about the implications and concerns if the UK were to enact a single-embryo transfer policy for IVF procedures.

I’ve gotten behind posting the news (sorry!), but there have been a lot of interesting articles lately, so here’s a quick run-down:

The top story today is about the possibility that women in Britain may soon be restricted to the implantation of one embryo during an IVF procedure. Currently, there are strict rules that restrict women under 40 to two embryos at a time, while women over 40 may have three. From the article:

The move to cut the number of embryos implanted follows research showing that multiple births are not only costly but put a mother’s health at risk and lead to a higher rate of disabilities in babies.

Twins and triplets are more likely to be born prematurely and be underweight. Triplets, for instance, are typically born at 34 or 35 weeks. There is also a greater risk that babies will be stillborn or suffer a long-term disability such as cerebral palsy.

Research from Sheffield University showed that families conceiving triplets by IVF cost the NHS £32,354 in their first year of life – 10 times the cost of a single baby – because of the health complications suffered by the mother and children. Currently, the twin birth rate is 23.6 per cent for mothers undergoing IVF, compared to between one per cent and two per cent in the general population.

But some fertility experts have warned that a one-embryo policy – adopted in the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden – would deprive tens of thousands of women the chance of having a baby.

The above news about the possibility of a limitation to a single embryo transfer in Britain has run in a number of British publications. Check out this editorial, written by a father of twins.

I love this article about a twinmom speaking up about her public transportation struggles. And, there’s a comment from a British twins club at the bottom of the article.

A very detailed article about the separation-in-school issue and the legislation wending its way through the Georgia legislature.

And, an editorial about the bill.

Article about four-year-old twins, separated in an orphanage in China and adopted by different sets of American parents, are reunited in Disney World.

Fun article about jazz-playing triplet teens.

A school in Mumbai, India has 13 sets of twins. Nice comments at the end of the article about whether to keep twins together in school.

Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra and soccer star Mia Hamm are now parents of twin girls. The girls were born in Los Angeles on Tuesday, five weeks early.

Very interesting article about IVF.  I’ve been reading about how many doctors are now encouraging IVF folks to implant one embryo instead of more than one.  Apparently this is due to the higher risks for both mother and babes in multiples pregnancies and births.  Turns out, according to this Boston Globe article, that many people still want twins because it ensures them of having more than one child.

Researchers have discovered twins who are neither identical nor fraternal; actually, they’re chimeras, a little of both.  The twins are identical in terms of their mother’s genes, but they only have half of their father’s genes in common.  Read the article on news@nature.com and blog posts in response at LiveScience.com and ScientificAmerican.com.

Sweet! Twin sisters Grace Stokes and Elspeth Hall, 70, had a double wedding and are now celebrating their 50th anniversaries.  They even received a letter from Queen Elizabeth because of their special story.  My favorite part of the article:

Elspeth said: “We did think we might have separate ceremonies as we wanted to be married at different times of the year.

“But my dad told us, ‘You came into the house together, so you should leave the house together’ – and that was it’.”

Another anniversary, this one from Canada.com: Colin and Gregory Rankin are Canada’s first IVF twins.  They just turned 25.  From the article:

In Canada alone, there are now 28 IVF clinics across the country, and the 2004 numbers – the latest available – show that almost 2,000 babies were born through IVF that year.

But for Colin and Greg, who are planning to go on a road trip later this summer to make up for their lacklustre 25th birthday celebration, the significance of their birth is enough to make them a bit philosophical at times.

“Hundreds of thousands of babies are born through IVF every year, and it’s crazy to think we were one of the first,” Colin said.

“But if you think about it, anybody being born and turning out the way they are is a one-in-a-million chance, so I think Greg and I being born is just one out of a billion – just a few zeros away.”

Whew. Be sure to check out this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article about Georgia’s legislature debating a bill that would allow parents to have a choice about putting twins in the same classroom. Don’t miss the comments underneath the article for some fascinating glimpses of ignorance in the electorate. Here’s an example:

Wow. A state law for one complaining mother in one school in one county. Gotyourhandsfull is right. I’ve known many parents of mulitples who preferred to have their children split up to encourage individuality. Where’s their law? This one mandates twins be kept together if the parents want it, but there’s no provision for parents requesting separate classrooms.

A mere 40 days to handle all legislative business for the year, and this nonsense makes it to the floor. The authors of the bill and all committee members who voted to send it on up the ladder should be impeached!

Uh, guess this person misunderstood the part of the bill that states that twins and multiples should be in the same classroom “if the parent or guardian requests” it.

Kudos to Kathy Dolan for bringing clarity to that discussion.

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In other news, researchers from Yale and Canada’s McGill University have made a discovery that may make it possible to determine which IVF candidate embryos have the best possibility of success. This would mean that doctors would only implant one embryo at a time, obviously reducing the numbers of twin and triplet conceptions.