Question of the Week: Does your family have a history of multiple births?

Question

Pictures would be fun if you have them!

In my family, my grandmother was a fraternal twin, and her biological mother was a fraternal twin. Fortunately, that gene seems to have petered out. We haven't seen anymore twins since then. Whew!

Did you know we have categories for multiple births?

Comments

My sister had identical twin boys, my dad had twin sisters and a twin brother and sister.

---

My dad was a twin, my cousin had twins and one of them had twins.

---

I have the 4th set of twins in 5 generations on my mother's side.  I also have twins on my father's side.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209887326923348&set=t.1338862739&type=3&theater

---

I have identical twin sons and their father was a twin. He had a fraternal brother.

---

I have 2 sets (no fertility drugs) (natural births)...sons, fraternal semi-identical & girls Identical mirror image...grandmothers on both mothers' maternal and paternal sides..1700s & 1800s, grandmothers gave birth to multiple multiples..one of which had 2 sets of twins and a set of triplets, another had 3 sets of twins a set of triplets and a set of quads..then they all stopped before 1900's..then I started em again, and now my niece also has twins, the ones I didn't have..she had a boy&girl set soon to be age 3.  the pic is of my 2 sets as children. they are now all in their 30'shttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=137008793073615&set=t.100002934846236&type=3&theater

---

My maternal great grandmother, Eliza, was a twin. My mother's sister, Velda, had twins (boy & girl). My mother's brother, Robert, had twin girls. My brother, Thomas, had twin boys. My sister, Zelamae, had twin grandsons. My sister, Myrtle, miscarried twins. My daughter, RaChelle, has twin boys. So, yes, I would say they run in my family!

---

On my paternal side.  My grandpa was an identical twin, Phil and Bill. Two cousins, Timmy and Tommy, are identical twins and grandchildren of my grandfather. The brother of the 2 twins, Timmy and Tommy,  has a son who has twins.  2 sets in one family.  His wife's family also has twins.  They have 7 children and had all of their children by the time they were 25.  UGH!

There are more, going back in time, but honestly, do not remember which side of the family they are on. Probably my dad's.  (His dad was my grandpa,the identical twin.)

---

I have identical twin sisters and five sets of twin cousins in my generation. I also have identical twin sons and also fraternal twin grandsons so I have been surrounded by twins all my life! A first cousin of mine who is the sister of twins (like me) has triplet grandchildren. They are not fertility drug babies as they were 6, 7 and 8 in the family!

---

My father's sister was a twin. Her son's daughter had twins. The twins come every other generation on my father's side of the family.

---

Our family has several sets of twins in it. I found couple to share here. 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Husk-218

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Husk-217

Billie

Answer 1

Maternal grandmother's youngest sister had two sets of fraternal twins; oldest set a boy and girl, the youngest set -two girls.

Answer 2

My grandfather was an identical twin, at least according to all measures but DNA. He looked so much like his brother that no one -- not even their parent or girlfriends -- could tell them apart.  They wore necklaces by which people could distinguish them, but In high school, these were broken. Whether that was accidental or deliberate no one learned, but afterward they would often trade girlfriends, without them knowing.

I have very often heard that twins skip a generation. But in this case, it skipped two, because I have two sisters that had twins.  One had twin girls, and one twin boys. The girls looked quite a lot alike, but tests proved they were fraternal and not identical. The boys did NOT look alike, and it was and is easy to see which is which.  I would love to find records of earlier generations having twins, but this I have not been able to do.

I have found other twins in my research for WikiTree, but I have documented literally thousands of 2-, 3- and 4-cousins of mine, so I don't know how relevant that is.

 

We also have a remote cousin (3d, I think), with three (yes, 3) twin sisters!

Answer 3

We have a favorite family story, though it is not about our own family, of a woman I once met on a bus, who told me an amazing (!) story, about how she had quintuplets, then triplets, then twins, then another set of triplets. In less than 30 months. Yes, she had 13 children under two-and-a-half!

Later, of course, she had 13 teenagers at once. And by now she would have had 13 college-aged kids.

I hope we are not too closely related. How would it be it THAT ran in your family?

Answer 4

My great-grandmother had twin siblings.  My husband's great grandfather had twin siblings.  My husband and I had twins.   We just recently had them take DNA tests -- surprisingly very different -- 1 is 33% British - the other 33% Irish.  Not a big difference but probably to Irish and the British it is :)

Not related to me -- This brings to mind an article I found in my research -- newspaper from OK/KS in 1911.  A woman was traveling with her children from TX to KS or vice-versa to meet her husband who had purchased land.  Train policy stated any children 5 and under traveled free with a paid parent.  The train co. was questioning the number of children with her.  She provided a bible.  She was traveling with her 13 sons (all 5 and under).  She never had a single birth -- just twins and triplets as I recall.  She had had a total of 19 boys -- 13 surviving.  The more alarming part was the fact that the article stated she was 30!  She probably had more children.  Always wanted to try to find her in the census and see -- but have lost the article.

Answer 5

My 3x grandmother had a twin brother, but it gets better - her mother had 15 children - in two marriages - including FIVE sets of twins! One set of boys, two of girls and two boy/girl. The children were born between 1838 and 1860.

Answer 6

my paternal grandmother had twin girls in 1915, I don't know if they were fraternal or identical. And there aren't any pictures, either. One lived only 12 days, the other one 14 days. And I learned through my research that my grandparents had another baby girl (the oldest, and not the uncle I knew as the oldest all my life) who died after 9 months. So my grandmother had 7 babies, 4 of which grew to adulthood and had their own families. Here is a picture of their firstborn, Sallie Ethel Kabrich (I don't understand the dialog window to add photo here LOL

Answer 7

My maternal Grandmother had still born identical twins. One of my maternal Aunts had fraternal twins girls born during Halloween week one has since passed, trying to find her children and grand children. The other just had her thirteenth/  fourteenth g child. I also believe one or more of my maternal ancestors had twins. This has not been confirmed as of yet. I am having fun trying. Hey could there be a place saying if this was a single, double or better births. On the profiles I had such a hard time in other sites explaining about twins in the family?  Thanks.

Answer 8

Yes. I have a twin sister. My grandpa on my moms side had twin sisters.

Answer 9

My father had twin sisters and both of his parents were twins. All three sets were fraternal twins, not identical. No one else has had twins in the subsequent generations.

Answer 10

My 7th great grandmother, Marie Catherine Gueret, was one of triplets.  All three children are known to have survived into adulthood, which was actually quite an accomplishment given how dangerous multiple births were in pre-modern societies.  She died in 1793 at the age of 84.

I also have a 5th great grandmother, Clothilde Adam, who had a twin sister named Marie Louise.

Answer 11

My paternal grandmother, Marguerite, had 3 sets of twins (and two singles) between 1944 and 1955. I still have trouble imagining . According to family lore, the family physician wrote up the research in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), however I have yet to find the article. Still, despite there being numerous grandkids... and now a few great grandkids, there haven't been any additional twins. 

Answer 12

My Grandmother (father's mother) had twins

My aunt (mother's sister) had twins

My brother married a twin

I married a Twin

My daughter has twinsMy wife's sister hs twins

That same sister's son's wife has twins

My great aunt (on my mother's side) has triplets

Answer 13

Yes, we have many twins. My mother was a twin and my dad had twin siblings. I have twin 2nd cousins. My paternal grandfather had twin siblings. My second great grandfather was a twin to name a few....

Answer 14

My grandmother, Anna had a twin brother, Alvin. i have a couple photos of them.

Answer 15

I have identical twin girls. My husband and I each have grandfathers who had identical twins as brothers and my family tree is peppered with twins in many branches.

Answer 16

YES!!  3 Generations including me.  My father has a twin sister.  Then it is supposed to SKIP a generation.  But my mother Double Ovulated.  So, she had twins, my brother and I.  Then I Double Ovulated 9 months a year and gave birth to boy/girl twins...my daughters also Double Ovulate!!  Mothers of Multiples are awesome!  Pray for us.

Answer 17

In my family twins skip a generation and emerge again. My uncle had twin sons. My grandfather had two sets of two twinbrothers

Answer 18

My dad is an identical triplet. He is the Tom from the "Tom, Dick, and Harry". He was born in August 1946, two months early. Dad was the only one weighed at birth and was less than 3 #. They are all three still living.

My Maternal Grandmother, Joan was a twin. She had a twin brother, James. They were the youngest of 7 born in Manilla, Crawford County, Iowa in 1923. Gram passed away in June 2014.

My younger sibling has two sets of twins. The first without any form of medical intervention to conceive. A boy and girl born 12 February 2000. Again, (with his 2nd wife) a set of twin boys born 2 December 2008.

Finally, a cousin on my Mother's side has a set of twins, a boy and a girl. No medical intervention to my knowledge.

I'm not sure how to add a photo....Just got an account within the last hour.

Answer 19

My grandmother had twins - My Aunts - Jane and Jean. My Aunt Jean had twins - Christine and David.

My Aunt Jane had a daughter - Robin. Robin had twins - Christopher and Brandon.

There are many more examples in my family, but that is the first one that comes to mind.

Answer 20

We have multiple births on both sides of our families. Twins and triplets on my husband's side, and several sets of twins on my side of the family.