Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Indian village with 250 sets of twins

I am not able to believe this news, but it seems to be true. Normally, we have heard that parents who undergo In-Vitro Fertilization, mostly give birth to babies in multiples. But here, in the remote village of Kodinhi, in Kerala, in 2008 alone, 15 pairs of twins were born in the village out of 300 healthy deliveries and this year is expected to top that number. Although 250 sets of twins have been officially registered in the village, Dr Sribiju, who is a local doctor, researching this phenomenon, believes the real number to be far higher. He says, "What is fascinating is the increasing numbers of twins with each passing year, so much so that I feel in the past ten years the number of twins in Kodinhi has doubled."

He further says, "Indian, and by that I mean Asian, people on the sub-continent have the lowest acknowledged incidences of twinning in the world at around four per thousand.

"In addition, there is no IVF treatment here because of the prohibitive cost. Global rates of twins being born, especially in the western world, have increased because of artificial insemination."

Read this news in detail.

I have always insisted on having two children, so that the first child will have company, when he is growing up and later to fall back upon, when needed. The people of this village need not go through the process of two pregnancies, but like 'two in one', they will have two kids in one delivery! Nice!


Edited to add: Current issue of 'Outlook' has published this article. Read for more interesting information.




22 comments :

Anonymous said...

It is amazing, isn't it? I read about this in another blog and was really surprised!

Lucky people of this village - they get 2 babies in one go :)

Sandhya said...

Smitha: I remember reading about this in a Tamil magazine, 'Ananda Vikatan', a couple of years back! Still, I thought this article is interesting!

Saritha said...

Lol 2 in 1.Good hospital expenditure is reduced.

I have always insisted on having two children, so that the first child will have company----I followed ur advice :)

I am all smiling after reading this post :)

Renu said...

It is a little amazing..only oother day I was wondering why do we find so many twins here..abroad.

Its pretty dificult for the parents, i know as my sisters were also twins:)

Solilo said...

WOW! that's amazing.

In most western countries women conceive in late 30s or 40s so take fertility drugs which triggers twins-triplets etc. A common sight here.

Sai Charan said...

Couldn't help but smile after reading this post, especially the last paragraph :)

You pick and share quite interesting pieces of news, thanks Sandhyaji, for bringing smiles to all your readers :)

Cheers,
Charan.

Anonymous said...

Wow !! maybe i should have gone to that village... I so wanted twins... !!

you know in our hold house in Mumbai.. my parents had twins... later we sold that house and teh couple that occupied that bedroom were also blessed with twins !!!

so... you never know !!!

Anonymous said...

:D two in one :D
I didnt know about this ..
thanks for sharing Sandhya:)
though I have to admit that I very rarely see any twins around me...I must have seen just 7 or 9 pair of twins in my entire life..


LOL@Dhiren's comment :D
Dhiren you can go even now;))
you and wifey on a nice trip:D:D
to god's own country:D

Sandhya said...

Varunavi: Yes, 2 in 1 is nice to imagine. But imagine bringing up two babies till they go to school, foof! Thanks for taking my advice!

Renu: Yes, it is not easy to bring up twins. Here, in India too, couples, esp. working couples start their family, after settling down in their job and are a bit nervous to take the responsibility of bringing up the children. As Solilo said, they decide to have a baby in their mid-thirties or something. By then, they find it difficult to conceive because of the age factor and work pressure. So they are compelled to opt for IVF and this method is famous for multiple babies - this is the reason for the twins abroad.

Solilo: Yes, Solilo. I know some children who are there, think twice before settling down and have families.

Sai: Laugh as much as you want, Sai!

Sandhya said...

hitchwriter: Yes, Dhiren. As per Indyeah's advice, even now it is not late! Hriday will be happy to have brothers and sisters, which is very rare now. They too will be happily enjoying their childhood like us. Or, rent the Mumbai house!

My next door flat has got that reputation. A couple from Pune rented that flat. Both were software engineers and married for 4 years. She had two still born babies. Her dream was fulfilled after one and a half years. She had a baby girl. Next came a couple with a 6 year old child. They had a son here after 2 years after she went through lot of problems. The third couple came to this flat. They were married for 2 years and no child. I was able to hear their fightings because of that. She went through IVF and had twins in this flat! All are living happily ever after!

Sandhya said...

Indyeah: I too have not come across many twins. All the couples were hale and healthy without any noticeable problems! Good advice for Dhiren!

R. Ramesh said...

"Two in one" package..hahaha..i enjoyed reading the post..BTW, do u remember me, friend!!!

Sandhya said...

Ramesh: Sure, Ramesh. I will visit your blog now!

R. Ramesh said...

no hassle, in fact, thanks friend..

kanagu said...

its realy amazing Sandhyaji.. :)

it's always better if a child has company.. and it is much better if they are of same age :)

thanks for sharing :)

Sai Charan said...

Sandhyaji, waiting to read your next post, hope it's already on its way...

Kavita Saharia said...

Sandhya...what an amazing fact ...i struglled with infertility for 8 long years...now i am blessed with two kids....i have spent lots of my valuable time in those fertility clinics...if only we knew..lol

Sandhya said...

kanagu: Yes, I feel, Kanagu.

Sai: Yes, Sai!

Kavita: Welcome here, Kavitha. My neighbour and a relative, had gone through IVF and I know it is very tough. This news has come in this week's Outlook magazine also. Who knows, Kerala tourism has got one more plus point, now! This village might catch attention. I know this is not a joke. In this tension-filled age, lots of people are having difficulty in having children. But, this is really a phenomenon, isn't it, Kavita?

R. Ramesh said...

passed by to say Hiii

Kavita Saharia said...

Thank you Sandhya,i am glad you liked my fish pond story.....thanks for considering me as a friend,i am touched.Regards.

Anonymous said...

I have seen only a couple of twins in my whole life! And boy, they have fun!! They were really alike and we couldn't tell the difference between them. It should be so confusing for the people in the village no? :-)

Destination Infinity

Sandhya said...

Destination Infinity: Did you read the 'outlook' article? I have highlighted it. They have given more funny stories of the twins!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Labels

Agra ( 3 ) ants ( 1 ) Arya Samaj wedding ( 1 ) Aurangabad ( 1 ) awards ( 3 ) Badami cave temples ( 4 ) balika vadhu ( 4 ) Bhimsen Joshi ( 1 ) birds and butterflies ( 28 ) Book Review ( 2 ) Books ( 5 ) Chennairain ( 1 ) children ( 2 ) Churches ( 1 ) Chutney ( 1 ) Cinderella Man ( 1 ) cinema ( 15 ) common wealth games ( 1 ) concerts ( 7 ) Corporation Schools ( 1 ) cricket ( 3 ) Dharamshala ( 3 ) dogs ( 5 ) Doordarshan ( 9 ) down memory lane ( 5 ) Education ( 15 ) English Movie Review ( 16 ) Environment ( 52 ) Europe tour ( 1 ) Festivals ( 20 ) Firaaq (2008) ( 1 ) Fitness ( 1 ) Forts ( 3 ) Foto Friday ( 18 ) Gafla ( 1 ) General ( 42 ) Health ( 7 ) Hindi film songs ( 3 ) Hindi Movie Review ( 25 ) Humour ( 6 ) Jagjit Singh ( 4 ) Kalakshetra ( 1 ) Kamal Haasan ( 2 ) kanjira ( 1 ) Karsh Kale ( 1 ) kaun banega superstar ( 3 ) kbc ( 2 ) Kew Gardens ( 2 ) Kittens ( 10 ) Kurnool ( 4 ) kya aap paanchvi paas se tez hain? ( 1 ) language ( 1 ) London ( 5 ) Mahabaleshwar tour ( 5 ) movie review ( 8 ) Mumbai Meri Jaan ( 1 ) music ( 58 ) my garden ( 17 ) Nature ( 19 ) New year ( 3 ) Notre Dame ( 1 ) onion ( 1 ) patriotism ( 19 ) pattadha kallu ( 1 ) People whom I admire ( 62 ) Personal experience ( 2 ) pets ( 19 ) politics ( 20 ) Portugese anchor ( 1 ) Pt.Chaurasia ( 1 ) radio ( 4 ) rantings ( 3 ) reality shows ( 2 ) recognition ( 2 ) religion ( 3 ) s ( 1 ) Sangeeth Saritha ( 5 ) saregama 1998 mega final ( 3 ) saregama 1999 finals ( 1 ) saregamapa 2010 ( 1 ) showcaves ( 1 ) Sonu Nigam ( 5 ) sound of music ( 3 ) sparrows ( 4 ) Sports ( 7 ) Srilanka tour ( 4 ) sunrise ( 6 ) superstitions ( 2 ) Tagged ( 11 ) Tamil movie Review ( 8 ) Temples ( 22 ) Tendulkar ( 3 ) The King's Speech ( 1 ) The Taj ( 1 ) thief ( 1 ) Tirupati ( 3 ) tour ( 59 ) tours ( 1 ) Travel ( 26 ) TV serial review ( 8 ) Ulagath Tamizh Semmozhi Maanaadu ( 1 ) unbelievable news ( 2 ) US tour ( 5 ) Ustaad Zakir Hussain ( 1 ) Vaalpaarai ( 3 ) vedanthangal ( 3 ) voh kaagaz ki kashti ( 75 ) wordless wednesday ( 38 ) yoga ( 2 )