I have used Clomid at 50cc or mc..however its administered. I heard that there is another med that is more effective at having twins. I really would like to have them. I also heard eating Yams can help….?? Any truth behind that??

I had twins using 50mg Clomid (boy/girl, they are now 5 years old).

In general, Clomid probably increases your chances of having twins around 5% to 10% (there seems to be a lot of conflicting data). Your individual odds of having twins will depend on how many mature eggs your ovaries actually produce using Clomid. If you normally do not ovulate, and Clomid causes you to ovulate one egg, then your chances of twins have not been increased. However, if Clomid causes you to have several or more eggs, your chances may be higher than the average. You won’t know exactly how many eggs you have in a cycle unless your doctor does a vaginal ultrasound to count the egg-producing follicles that appear on your ovaries.

If you are using artificial insemination (IUI), your chances could be higher of having multiples if you use injectible fertility drugs; but again, your odds completely depend on your individual response to the drugs and the number of eggs you produce.

If you are undergoing IVF, your odds of twins depend on the number of embryos you transfer. If you only transfer one embryo, you haven’t increased your odds of twins, but if you transfer 3, you may have a good chance of having twins (or more) — but there are a lot of factors that affect these odds, such as your age.

As far as wanting twins, they are a special blessing. However, one-at-a-time is really the best way to go. It is not a pleasant moment to see "HIGH RISK PREGNANCY" stamped on your chart, and every multiple pregnancy is high risk. Twins have double the risk of birth defects, and are much more likely to be born prematurely, which can cause lifelong disabilities. Multiple pregnancy is no picnic — you may be put on bedrest and/or hospitalized for a long period.

Here are tips from about.com for ways to increase your chances of twins that do not involve fertility drugs (and yes, eating yams is one of them):

* Eat yams.
There are certain cultures that have more twins than others.
One of these is a tribe where they eat a lot of yams. There is a theory that it is a certain chemical in the yams that helps the women in this culture have more twins.

* Be breastfeeding when you get pregnant.
Recent studies show that if you are breastfeeding when you get pregnant that you are more likely to have twins. This is said to be caused by the depletion of calcium in your system while nursing and its effect on the egg during conception and ovulation.

* Be older when you get pregnant.
The older you are when you get pregnant, the more likely you are to have twins. This may be because of an increased ovulation of multiple eggs, resulting in more dizygotic or fraternal twins.

Good luck to you in conceiving soon!!

Related Articles:

Filed under: Having Twins

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!