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Twinning is caused by either of two ways, the early splitting of a conceptus into two conceptus, which is a random process and not dependant upon age or number of previous pregnancies. The second way it the fertilization of two ovum. This is often referred to as fraternal twins and is the "hereditary" way as we see a history of this in familes. Fertility drugs can also result in multiple ovulations and hence twins. At 8 weeks its easy for one twin to hide behind the other. This would account for the large embryonic size. A high hCG level could also be an indicator but not a guarantee that there are twins. Unfortunately, it looks like you'll have to wait 2 more weeks to know. How exciting!

i was told older women drop more eggs and the possibliity of having twins is higher the older you are so it is possible. keep us posted

Older woman do not ovulate more eggs. In fact, the quality of fertilized egg is much less as a woman ages which actually makes conception much more difficult for one conceptus, let alone two.

L, I'm going to have to disagree with you...Older women do release more eggs when they ovulate. This is why a woman's chances for fraternal twins almost doubles after the age of 35. A woman's physical age does not neccesarily have any bearing on the quality of her egg as some would suggest, though; it is a woman's maternal age that determines the shelf life of her eggs. Believe it or not, there are lots of women who are in their 40's who have healthier eggs than women who are in their late 20's and mid 30's. Ever notice how some women appear much older than they really are or much younger than they really are? A person's physical appearance is almost always a direct reflection or result of what's taking place inside of their bodies.

I am 41 and my doctor says that age does indeed affect the odds of having twins. A 20 year old has a 4% chance of having fraternal twins, a 40 year old woman has an 8% chance. We may have higher chromosone problems due to age of eggs, but we can indeed ovulate more than one egg due to our age. :)

I agree that maternal age increases your odds of twins. I have had 4 singleton pgs and then at 36 had twin miscarriage at 7 weeks, and now at 37 am 18 weeks pg with twins. There are no twins in either mine or my husbands families? I can only think my age has something to do with it?! :-) I figured my bodies saying, "Quick! Get those eggs used up before they spoil!" LOL LOL

I still have to disagree with you all, but here is why. Older woman may conceive or even deliver more twins than their younger counterparts, but naturally, cycle for cycle, a younger woman will produce more viable ovum from their follicles. Typically an increase in twinning is seen in older woman because of the increased stimulation due to fertility drugs. A larger population of older woman seek fertility treatment and hormone stimulation than younger women. Shelby, the quality of eggs do dramtically decrease as a woman ages. A woman has all of her egg at the time of birth, unlike males who go through continuous spermatogenesis - at 40 our eggs are 40+ yrs old. At 20 are eggs are only 20+ yrs old. Granted a woman in her 40's may produce a better egg than a woman in her 20's, (but this comparision is on an individual basis and not population basis) but the egg quality of that 40 year old woman is much less than when she herself was 20. Older woman suffer from more reabsorbtion, early m/c and increase of chromosomal disorders such as Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 18 because of reduced egg quality. (Of course these are still found in youger woman but in much lower frequencies.)

I would just like to know why you are arguing about "The Quality of Eggs"??? Did anyone here ask about that?? NO....The subject here is about MATERNAL AGE RELATING TO THE ODDS OF TWIN GESTATION. (In case you missed it.) I don't know about anyone else here, but I don't care to hear rambling about Old Eggs V.S. Young eggs. So argue away, I guess...but try to stay on subject and don't bother those of us who are just here to share and not pick at others for whatever reason? There are lots and lots of medical resources that have been compiled showing that advanced maternal age especially in correlation with several previous pg's does increase the odds of having fraternal twins, this being a direct result of hormonal surges (maybe premenopausal? who knows for certain) causing multiple ovulations. This is true to the data as of date. And this is the subject at hand. Not egg quality. I would be curious to know if the previous births have an effect because for every pg of 9 months (or more if you b___stfeed and don't ovulate) means alot of eggs not used up during their "scheduled" time...so maybe as we get closer to menopausal era in our lives, our bodies know we need to get rid of the eggs and then kicks out extras to make up for the unused eggs from back when we were pg all the other times??? It kinda makes sense if it were true, cuz otherwise some women would never get to their menopausal time as they still have lots of eggs left??

I am 16 and I am a twin. I am 23 weeks pregnant. What is the chance I could be having twins or more if there are a lot of twins in my family?

Yes its possible to have twins at an older age if these people read up they will see that age does cause twins , My friend who was 34 and not a twin jean in her family had twins. However I am 36 and felt the same way as you this being my 3rd everyone said twins and doc thought maybe also but 3 u/s showed 1 baby just was showing early and bigger because of being my 3rd , All the best to you and if twin hey I think that would be neat to have.

sally,do you still think it is twins,if so you may have to have a c-section.

Kathy S....Thank You THank You Thank You for saying all that!! what is the point in arguing about something that no one even asked about. It almost makes it seem as if the 'L' person has an issue with older women getting pregnant. I am 6 weeks along and would be so Happy if i was told i was having twins. This pregnancy is also very different then all my others (3) as in I am older and know what to expect and am so looking forward to this whole pregnancy right now.

You can google it.  It's a fact that women age 35 and over have a higher chance of releasing more than one egg during ovulation.  So the chances for twins or higher multiples goes up with age.  A simple google search will put this argument to rest.  It's a fact.