Twins and Other Multiples

Twins may seem like a desirable outcome: one pregnancy, two kids. My husband is a twin, and the relationship he has with his brother is extremely special.

But consider the outcomes for the children (from Raising WEG:)

Mothers of multiple-birth children show higher rates of post-partum depression than mothers of singletons.  Mothers of multiple-birth children are slower to attach to their infants, and they learn their infants’ cues and personalities at slower rates than parents of singletons.  Multiple-birth children are delayed in language acquisition by, on average, 6 to 12 months, even adjusting for prematurity and other medical delays.  The early cognitive deficits that result from the suboptimal environment of a multiple-birth environment persist at least through age 8.  Raising multiple infants places enormous stresses, physical and psychological, on parents.  Parents of higher-order multiples in particular have higher divorce rates than other parents.