The heaviest birth weight for surviving twins on record goes to Mrs. J.P. Haskin of Arkansas, on February 20 1924, whose twins weighed in at an eye-watering 14lbs & 13lbs 12oz, totalling 27lb 12oz.
The worlds heaviest twins, with an aggregate weight of 12.58 kg (27 lb 12 oz), were born to Mary Ann Haskin (USA), of Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA on 20 February 1924.
The first wife (died ante 1770), of Feodor Vassilyev (b. 1707–c. 1782), a peasant from Shuya, Russia, gave birth to 16 sets of twins.
Jack and Isla O'Kane could be the biggest naturally born twins in the country weighing in at 4.245kg and 3.2kg respectively.
Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.
Nonuplets (9)
A set of nonuplets was born on 13 June 1971, in Sydney, Australia to Geraldine Brodrick and her husband Leonard. They were five boys and four girls; two of the boys were stillborn and the last of the surviving babies, a boy named Richard, died six days after the birth.
Her brother, Adrial Luka Nadarajah, joined her 23 minutes later, weighing not quite 15 ounces. According to Guinness World Records, the pair are both the most premature and lightest twins ever born.
In Australia, twins happen in 1 in every 80 births. This means that 1 in 40 Australians is a twin. The birth rate of identical twins is the same around the world and doesn't vary with the mother's age.
We think the heaviest triplets on record in the UK were born in 1914 to the McDermott family – the combined weight of the three babies was 24lb – each baby averaging 8lbs. However Twinsclubber Rachel Ellis certainly earns a mention – her triplets weighed 6lbs 8 ozs, 6lbs 12ozs and 3lbs 8 ozs..
As per the university, MoMo twins are some of the rarest types of twins, making up less than one per cent of all births in the United States. According to Dr Gupta, MoMo twins account for “fewer than 0.1 per cent of all pregnancies and one per cent of identical twins”.
Can twins have different fathers? In rare cases, fraternal twins can be born from two different fathers in a phenomenon called heteropaternal superfecundation. Although uncommon, rare cases have been documented where a woman is pregnant by two different men at the same time.
The DNA of monozygotic twins tends not to be 100% identical, and epigenetic and environmental differences further widen the gap between twin pairs. It's not nature or nurture; it's a complex interaction between our genes, our environment, and our epigenetic markers that shape who we are and what illnesses befall us.
Octuplets are a set of eight offspring born at one birth. An individual that is part of such a set is called an octuplet.
In 1997, the McCaughey septuplets, born in Des Moines, Iowa, became the first septuplets known to survive infancy. Multiple births of as many as eight babies have been born alive, the first surviving set on record goes to the Suleman octuplets, born in 2009 in Bellflower, California.
Watch: Finding Your Doppelganger
Believe it or not, scientists say that statistically, every person has roughly SIX doppelgangers out there in the world. That means there are seven people with your face, including you, out there.
Australians Anna and Lucy DeCinque call themselves the “most identical twins in the world”, and work to live up to their self-proclaimed title. They're engaged to the same man, have the same bathroom schedule, and work the same job – one for a salary the other as a volunteer, for legal reasons.
High parity – Having one or more previous pregnancies, especially a multiple pregnancy, increases the chances of having multiples. Race – African-American women are more likely to have twins than any other race. Asian and Native Americans have the lowest twinning rates.
If the 12 – called duodecaplets – are all born alive they would represent a medical miracle and break the record of American mother Nadya Suleman, who recently gave birth to the world's longest-surviving octuplets.
Fraternal twins live longer than singletons and identical twins longer still. Male identical twins on average, saw the most benefit. The rarity of twins has inspired many myths about them.
Some names for these are: Twins for 2 babies. Triplets for 3 babies. Quadruplets for 4 babies.
Knowing which twin is the older one is usually a no-brainer. The time of birth is recorded, and whichever one is born first is officially the eldest.
In prenatal ultrasounds, the baby positioned lowest in the uterus is given the designation of “Baby A.” Under this convention, Baby A will likely be born first in a vaginal delivery. However, about 75 percent of twins are delivered by cesarean section.