How are twins born?
You may have come across twins. Have you ever wondered
how two babies are born at the same time? Normally a woman delivers only one
child at a time. This child can either be a male or a female. Sometimes,
however, two or more children are born at a time. Two children born of the same
mother at one time are known as twins. Do you know how twins are born?
Between the 10th and the 18th day
from the onset of menstruation, the reproductive organs of the female produce
an egg called ovum. If during this period the female mates with a male, one of
the male sperms fuses with the ovum. This union of the ovum and sperm is known
as fertilization and the female is said to have become pregnant. 280 days
later, the woman gives birth to a child.
But sometimes after the conception, the ovum divides
itself into two parts. Both these parts develop in the womb separately as two
embryos. As a result, two babies are born simultaneously. The two children so
produced are similar in complexion and appearance. Most of their traits are
similar. Both the children will always be either boy is girls. This is because
they are produced from the same ovum. Such twins are called identical twins.
Sometimes the twins may not be similar. They could also belong
to different sex. How is that possible? This is possible when two sperms form
the male semen enter separately into two ova of the same female. The two ova
then develop into two different babies. The children so produced may be
different from one another. They may or may not be from the same sex. Their
characteristics may also differ. Such twins are called non-identical or
fraternal twins.
Sometimes we come cross the term Siamese twins. The term
Siamese for conjoined twin is derived form the famous celebrated twins, change
and Eng-Bunker born in Mekong , Siam (now Thailand ) in 1811. They were joined
by a cartilaginous band at the chest. Both of them died with in a gap of three
hours at the age of 62 in 1874. However, such twins are very rare.