How Are Twins Born?

Generally, a woman gives birth to only one child at a time. Sometimes, a woman gives birth to two or more children at a time. The two children born of the same mother at a time are called twins.

Do you know how twins are born?

An egg known as ovum is produced by the reproductive organs of the female between the 10th and the 18th day from the start of menstruation. If a female mates with a male during this period, one of the male sperms enters into the ovum. This combination of ovum and sperm is called fertilization and the female is said to have become pregnant. The woman gives birth to a child after 280 days. After the conception, sometimes the ovum divides into two parts and these two parts develop separately in the womb as two embryos. As a result, such woman gives birth to two children at the same time. The two children so produced look similar in their personality. The children will always be either girls or both boys, as both the children are produced from the same ovum. Sometimes two sperms from the male semen enter separately into two ova of the same female. Then two embryos develop in the womb and the woman gives birth to two children. The children so produced may or may not have same sex and they have different habits. Some women have given birth to more than two children at a time. In Brazil on 22nd April 1946, a woman gave birth to 10 children at a time- 8 girls and 2 boys. In the Royal hospital of Sydney, Mrs. Geraldine Broderick gave birth to nine children at a time on 13th June, 1971. Naturally, we often hear of women giving birth to 3, 4 or 6 children at a time.