Has anyone else miscarried one identical twin?

[mummynumber2]

Hi. I'm just wondering if anyone is able to help me understand what's going on and what the outcome might be.

I'm about 6 weeks pregnant now. Last monday I had quite a lot of bleeding and slight cramping. After a scan I was told that I was probably miscarrying.

I went back for another scan on Friday and to everyone's surprise saw a healthy heart beat! The dr also found the remains of a twin that had miscarried. Although in its own sac we know that the twin would have been identical as I had IVF and only one embreyo was replaced.

It's been a complete rollercoaster and I'm now terrified that I'm at risk of miscarrying completly. I'm having slight cramping at the moment (which could be swolen overies from the ivf) but no bleeding. Does anyone know what my chances are now? Thanks for reading.

[domesticsluttery]

My DB was a twin (no idea whether they were identical or non identical) but my mum miscarried the twin early on.

This was in 1965 and DB is now a 6ft tall 44 year old if that helps any!

[mummynumber2]

That helps a huge amount domesticsluttery, thankyou!

[BertieBasset]

My DSIL and also a close friend have both miscarried a twin and gone on to have healthy single births. I have no idea if they were identical or not though I'm afraid

[Concordia]

my cousin was a twin, my aunt miscarried early. obviously my aunt is still sad about the baby she lost but my cousin is now 29, happy and healthy.

[mummynumber2]

Thanks everyone. These stories make me feel much more hopfull.

What does concern me though is the fact that they're identical. I've heard that most miscarriages happen because of genetic or chromosomal problems with the fetus. If they're identical and share the same genetic make up surely there's a high chance the other will miscarry? I can't find any info about this online, does anyone have any ideas?

[mummynumber2]

Sorry to bump this but I really am feeling desperate now as I can't find any inforation about this anywhere else. Can anyone help?

[BertieBasset]

this page may be a help?

Maybe post this in multiple births as some of the ladies may have some experience?

[ilovesprouts]

hi my dd was pg with twins lost one ,went bk to hosp she was still pg ,her son is now 5m

[Purplebuns]

My youngest sister is the result of a twin pregnancy, where my Mum lost one. Fingers crossed for you x

[Izzasurrey]

Hi mummy,

Yes, I lost a twin around 10-12 weeks. After one pregnancy resulting in my daughter I had 3 miscarriages and then a fourth (we thought). My husband took me to hospital (bleeding heavily) and I was booked in for a D&C but they scanned me before they took me in to theatre and found a heartbeat!

I was sent home with orders to rest (not really relevant with a 2 year old) and went on to give birth to my son. However, the pregnancy was pronounced 'unstable' and the NHS were great, I had lots of scans, but not an easy pregnancy. Not sure if it was identical (natural conception not IVF) but he is now 20, 6'3" and healthy, thank god.

Just wanted to reassure you if poss.

xx

[BalloonSlayer]

From what I am aware, it is fairly common to lose one of non-identical twins and for the other to survive.

Because identical twins usually share a sac and placenta it is almost unheard of for one identical twin only to be lost. I seem to recall many years ago (I think) the magpie presenter Jenny Hanley lost one twin and there were great hopes that the other would survive but sadly it did not. However it obviously does happen, though rarely.

I think the thing to hang on to is that there are separate sacs, which make things look a lot more hopeful. I'd have thought that one of the main reasons that a pregnancy fails in the early stages is that the embryo hasn't implanted properly and therefore the blood supply isn't sufficient to keep it going. If your twins have separate sacs then presumably they have separate placentas too.

It is possible apparently - though very rare - for identical twins to have separate sacs and placentas. I have a friend who is a non-identical twin as she and her sister had separate sacs and placentas. However - they ARE identical (Although this has not been proved through blood tests, you only have to look at them!)

Sorry to ramble on and hope I haven't made things worse but I think you have good grounds to be optimistic.

[lilwitch513]

I know I'm responding to this thread very late, but I wanted to chime in. I am a survivor of my identical twin miscarrying. In her first or second trimester, my mom had a miscarriage, a full miscarriage, and then found out she was still pregnant. When I was born, the doctors realized I was an identical twin, and somehow survived. I am now 20 years old with only a few "left over" effects, though most of the effects I suffer are the psychological side effects of this occurrence.

[OpheliasWeepingWillow]

Google Vanishing Twin x

[PicaK]

I had a vanishing twin too - I worried and worried all thru the pregnancy for the one who was left. Complete waste of time and energy - he was fine and arrived bang on the due date.

My DH and I will never forget the twin - virtually noone else remembers.

If you have the spare cash then private scans are a lovely luxury as u have more time and attention.

If you really can't relax then just be aware that you are at increased risk of pnd and if you have pnd then your child is at increased risk of speech and language difficulties. I know that sounds a bit scare mongering but I found all that out far too late - had I known I would have put some checks in place (discussing with the HV, not hiding how bad I felt cos it was ivf so I should be grateful - yada, yada).

[whiteandyelloworchid]

sadly i lost one twin in the first trimester than went on to have a neonatal death with the other twin.
and ow have just had another mc

really really hope oyu have better luck than me

[gbfw]

Hi

I know this post is old, but so that someone reading has info they might need...

Identical twins share the same placenta, so it would be good to see an expert, if one has actually miscarried, this isn't great, so you need to see an expert. Someone like Prof. Kypros Nicolaides. Non identical / Fraternal twins have separate placentas so that kind of twin pregnancy usually has better odds if one miscarrys in comparison to ID twin pregnancies.

As I understand it,
Fraternal / non identical twins - the surviving twin isn't effected and can carry on to term. (37 weeks in twin pregnancies - they tell you to go to term normal pregnancy 40 weeks, but I would insist on the monitoring given to twin pregnancies being continued because it was and still is a 'high risk' pregnancy)
ID twins - this is where both babies share a placenta - if one miscarries the other can, within 6 weeks, over that amount of weeks then over 10 you are looking better if there has been no miscarriage for your survivor to continue, this is what happened to us, I had a pregnancy carrying one live, one dead ID twin, our ID twin survivor is doing well. but as above I thought it naive when the docs said ' we treat this as a 'normal pregnancy' now you have lost one, (yes very insensitive), I couldn't find and wasn't given decent enough reasons not to continue as planned and have our baby girl at 37/38 weeks by c section. We did, and I am glad we did. There is the possibility it wast an ID pregnancy, early on a lot of misdiagnosis can occur in twin pregnancies when it is the early weeks, 6 - 10. So keep an open mind rest, and until you get a decent answer from someone who understands or has seen this before, continue to ask questions.

People on the these closed Facebook forums who will know what you are going through. (closed forums so no chat turns up on your usual Facebook page). Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome - UK Parents - on Facebook. or also a Facebook group Parents of Twinless Twins - there will also be people on there who will have experienced this, and might have good questions for you to ask your consultant.
x

[law121]

I know i am responding to this thread late but I just found it. I had the same thing happen to me 18 years ago. I had IVF where there was only one embryo and at 7 weeks I had a lot of bleeding and was told over the phone by a doctor that I was having a miscarriage. Went for an ultrasound and there was one empty sac and another sac with a baby. I went on to have a normal pregnancy with the surviving one, my son is now 17 years old.

[306235388]

My friend miscarried a twin very early, I don't know if they were identical. Their wee girl is 3 now.

Sorry for your loss z

[306235388]

Oh just seen how old this is sorry

[Turbo2013]

Hello. I was wondering how it turned out for you. I am currently going threw the same thing. I am 5ish weeks pregnant. Last night I had heavy bleeding and cramps. Passed big blood clots. I went in for a ultrasound today. Last week my hug was 7000 today it was at 5700. My doc things I might have lots a twin. I stopped bleeding this morning. But I started to cramp and bleed again this evening. I go for more blood work on Wednesday and Friday. Can you help

[Beelzebop]

This happened to me, I miscarried a twin. Thankfully her twin survived and is now twelve. It can happen, good luck xxx.

[LexyMom]

I found out I was pregnant @ 6 weeks. I was 38 with PCOS, and just about given up. @7 weeks I was told it was an etopic pregnancy & I needed immediate surgery to terminate. Sent out by ambulance to another hosp to have surgery done. More testing done there & diagnosis confirmed. I then waited for hours for a team of OB specialist who came in and told me all the other doctors were wrong, my pregnancy was fine & to go home & rest. @ 8weeks ultrasound revealed identical twins. Dr congratulated me & said everything looked fine. @ 10 weeks started having pain with no bleeding. Ultrasound revealed only one baby, and remnants of another. I was told the cramping I felt was my body absorbing the fetus. After a rollercoaster starting, the rest of the pregnancy was pretty normal. Today I have a healthy happy 5 year old boy and I like to think his twin brother will always be apart of me.