When families are told they are expecting twins or triplets (or more) their first reaction can range from surprise, disbelief or joy – through to shock, or even fear.
When families are told they are expecting twins or triplets (or more) their first reaction can range from surprise, disbelief or joy – through to shock, or even fear.
Multiple births have doubled in Australia – from 4740 in 1975, to just over 9000 in 2017.
That’s an increase of 91 percent, which has been brought about, in part, as a result of the increased use of fertility drugs and assisted reproduction technology (ART) as well as the growing number of older mothers.
The number of multiple births as a result of ART has stabilised over the last decade or so, due to the voluntary implementation of “one egg” transfers, known as selective single embryo transfer (SET) – which effectively limits the number of embryos transferred at any one time.
Read more at University of Melbourne
Image: Over the last 40 years, multiple births in Australia have almost doubled with 9056 multiple-births in 2017, compared to 4740 in 1975. (Credit: Donnie Ray Jones, Flickr)
