Growing trend Multiple Births in Canada

There is a growing trend of multiple births in the western world.

According to Multiple Births Canada, between 1974 and 1990 the incidence of twins rose 35 percent, triplets climbed 300 percent and quadruplets skyrocketed 400 percent.

In the last five years alone, according to Statistics Canada, the incidence of triplets has increased 14 percent across the country.

"Primarily it's because of reproductive technology," said Dr. Bill Mundle, medical director of the Windsor Regional Hospital maternal fetal medicine department.

"People who are having trouble getting pregnant will often go through treatment, though sometimes they get more than what they bargained for."

This year, on January 7th in Vancouver, Canada's first set of sextuplets were born, eclipsing the country's famed Dionne quintuplets, born May 28th, 1934.
Not all the sextuplets survived, however.

Multiple-birth children are often born prematurely, which is why the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority will soon limit the number of multiple births which reproductive-technology doctors in the United Kingdom can produce.

Heather McAuley, president of the Parents of Multiple Births Association Windsor Essex County, said another reason more twins and triplets are being born is because the average age of women having their first children is rising.
Older women produce multiple-birth children more often than younger women.

Source: Times Colonist