How can you increase your chance of having a multiple birth?

Question

Natural or not?

Answer 1

conceiving twins would increase your chances of a multiple birth.

Answer 2

Natural - some women carry a gene that causes them to ovulate more than one egg.  You see it in women with a family history of fraternal twins.  Women over 35 and overweight also show an increased risk for multiple birth.

Otherwise, there are fertility treatments that show an increase for multiples - Clomid & Femara (oral meds) have about a 10% increased risk of twins, IUI treatments especially with FSH injectible medications have the greatest risk of a multiple birth and then there is IVF in which the woman has the option of transferring more than one embryo and hoping that they will implant.

In general, doctors do all they can to reduce multiples as it is hard on the woman and the babies . . . they also will not prescribe fertility treatments without a reason.

Answer 3

Try to conceive with someone who has a strong genetic history of twins? Marry a twin? Or IVF I guess.

Answer 4

Why would you want to?  Multiple births are far more risky, for both mother and babies.

I imagine you'd have to use fertility drugs to cause you to super-ovulate, or resort to IVF.

Answer 5

IVF. I really can't imagine there is any other way.

Answer 6

Well you can't do much about conceiving more than one baby naturally although it does run in familes.  Either 2 or more eggs are produced by the ovaries and fertilised at the same time giving rise to non identical twins/triplets or one fertilised egg divides into 2 or 3, to create identical twins, triplets.

If you have assisted conception then if more than one embryo is replaced in your uterus you may well have a multiple birth if they all implant.

Answer 7

It usually will run in your family, or if you have ivf it can occur.