Are My Twins Genetic Or Caused By Morning After Pill?

[Nintysevenmama]

Hi all, New here👋🏼

Long winded so bare with me...

So I am a mother of a 7yr old DS and a 4yr old DD and on 2/2/22 I found out I was 10 weeks 5 days pregnant with Fraternal Twins, we are overjoyed but it was an unplanned pregnancy.

So my maternal grandmother had 2 sets of fraternal twins and for years the whole family as wondered ' who has the twin gene.' Out of my grandmothers 11 children and 35 grandchildren I am the first/only to be expecting twins!

My mother is so excited and thinks they are a 'blessing from above/ gift from her mother'. I would love to think that I have the twin gene and infact this is what has caused the twins however I wonder if in fact I have caused the twins?

So I don't track my cycle as such but I pop my periods down in my phone just so I know when to expect my next one. My last 'normal' period begun on 23rd May and lasted 7 days which is normal for me... A few weeks later we had a accident in the bedroom, It turned out it was during my fertile window according to my phone so I took the morning after pill ( EllaOne) the following morning. I am not on birth control so we are usually careful... anyhow my following period came a little later than due on 26th June and lasted only 4 days opposed to my usual 7 but I thought no more of it. However 29th July I took a pregnancy test as my period was late and found out I was pregnant, while it wasn't planned or expected we were so happy and felt it was just meant to be.

Fast forward to my scan... the sonographer dated me at 10 weeks 5 days, a week ahead of what I initially thought and announced the shock revelation of twins, both of which have strong heartbeats, are as perfect as a 10 week fetus should be, measure the same dates and are fraternal. I counted back 10 weeks and 5 days and that took me to the 26th of June, the first day of my last period.

I am curious as to whether or not someone has experienced the same thing?
I am blessed with twins either way and the main thing is they are healthy, However I cant help wondering if the are a result of the twin gene or a result of the EllaOne working the previous month and delaying ovulation and the my body releasing 2 eggs the following month?
I guess either way 2 eggs were released and resulted in twins.

I hope you all understand me, and get my point... Curiosity has just got the better of me😂

It comes from the female line, so prob genetic

You could've googled it quicker than it writing out that post. This was the first hit when I googled 'twin gene' www.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/twin-genetics

It doesn’t actually necessarily come from the female line. My father passed it to me and my sister. Only female descendants are able to have twins due to the genes though as it’s our bodies who make two eggs.

Your twins may be random or they could be due to your genes but it won’t be anything to do with the MAP x

I'm not a biologist but fairly sure the female body doesn't 'compensate' by releasing more eggs after prescribed hormones otherwise many more of us would have twins.

The EllaOne only works if taken before ovulation.

From NHS website: Both Levonelle and ellaOne are effective only if taken before the release of an egg from the ovary (ovulation). The sooner you take Levonelle or ellaOne, the more effective it will be

If you were in your fertile window then you'd already ovulated. Sounds like twin genes to me!😊

I see what you're asking - does artificially delaying ovulation from one side mean increase the chance that the next month you release an egg from both sides? That sounds plausible to me, maybe if the egg was almost mature and 'ready to go' when you halted it. But on the other hand, wouldnt that one fall away and die like in a normal cycle? Dunno but interesting thought.

Yes this is exactly what I mean!
Just interesting isn't it, hence why I was so curious.

Thank you for your response! I had no idea about fathers passing on the gene however in my case there is no history of twins in my fathers side😊 Regardless I feel blessed! X

According to the NHS factors that affect how likely you are to have non identical twins are:

non-identical twins are more common in some ethnic groups, with the highest rate among Nigerians and the lowest among Japanese

if you’re pregnant and over 35 you’re more likely to have non-identical twins because you’re more likely to release more than 1 egg during ovulation

non-identical twins run on the mother's side of the family, probably because of an inherited tendency to release more than 1 egg

As someone who has PCOS and has been through IVF so done lots of research on ovulation and egg release I would say it's unlikely. The egg that is released begins its journey 3 months before actual ovulation (hence the reason you are told to take folic acid for at least 3 months before trying to conceive) so both eggs will have been well on their way to being dominant follicles way before you took the MAP.