AI Article Synopsis
- Twinning rates in developed countries have fluctuated since the 1950s, initially declining until the late 1970s due to factors like older maternal age and fewer children per family, before experiencing a rise in the 1980s linked to assisted reproduction techniques.
- The study analyzed trends in twinning rates in Italy, finding that older mothers using assisted reproduction are a significant factor in the recent increase in twinning rates.
- Current data suggests that twinning may indicate a slight increase in natural fertility among the Italian population, as young mothers' twinning rates are now similar to those seen in the 1950s.
Article Abstract
Background: In the wide-ranging debate about the potential monitors of population fertility, twinning rate has been considered a candidate. In the developed countries, a decline in spontaneous twinning rate began around 1950 and continued until the late 1970s. The decrease in mean maternal age at delivery and the number of children per family have been considered as possible reasons for the decrease. The rise in twinning rates, which began in the 1980s, is probably due to the spread of assisted reproduction, at least for older mothers.
Methods: The temporal trend in twinning rate and the relationship with maternal age at delivery and birth order in the Italian population were analysed.
Results: The recent increase in twinning rate can be mainly attributed to the recourse to assisted reproduction techniques, as demonstrated by the twinning frequency among older primiparae. The twinning rate recently observed in young mothers approximates to the value of the 1950s, which is assumed to represent a 'natural' fertility condition.
Conclusions: On the assumption that twinning is an indicator of fertility, and hence of population fitness, the present data seem to suggest that natural fertility has been slightly increasing in the Italian population.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deg036 | DOI Listing |
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