Elizabeth Gleason

Twinning and why its so rare.

Twinning, a phenomenon often associated with the birth of twins, presents a fascinating subject for scientific exploration. In our species, twinning is relatively rare, occurring in only about 3% of live births, with the majority being dizygotic or fraternal twins. Fraternal twins arise when a person releases two eggs instead of one, both of which get fertilized and successfully implant. On the other hand, monozygotic or identical twins, though less common, are of particular interest to scientific studies as they share essentially all of their DNA, originating from a single fertilized egg that later splits into two.