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One School, 19 Sets of Twins
They’re seeing double at Armstrong Elementary School in Garland, Texas. And double. And double.
The small Texas school has just five hundred thirty-nine students – and thirty-eight of them are twins. There are nine sets in the second grade alone.
It’s surely a sign of the trend toward twins – spurred on by fertility interventions. These days, one out of every thirty-three kids is a twin (compared to one in eighty back in the day). In 2004, there were more than one hundred thirty two thousand twin births recorded in the U.S. – more than any year prior (that was the latest year data is available on, no word on whether it’s risen in the past five years).
There’s no question there are more of them, but I’d hazard a guess they’re more spread out too. And they’re bringing more attention. Perhaps because because the hot button fertility drug issue (hello Octomom) make these parents an easy mark? The years have also been marked by advancements in medical technologies that keep twin pregnancies going and keep premie duos alive.
And perhaps I’m the anomaly that proves the rule, but I never thought twins were rare. I grew up in the eighties in an even smaller school than Armstrong (there were thirty-four kids in my graduating class). And there was one set of twins in my class, plus half of a set of a twins (his brother failed a year and ended up behind us). My next door neighbors had identical twin boys, I have a set of twin uncles (born in the sixties) plus a set of twin cousins. None of these kids were born with fertility interventions.
Twins make up seven percent of the population at Armstrong. But they made up eight percent of the population in my third grade class.
Did you know a lot of twins growing up or are you meeting your first multiples as parents?
Image: MSNBC
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6 Comments
[...] seems daunting, it could be worse. It seems that Armstrong Elementary School in Garland, Texas had 19 sets of twins this past [...]
Twins abound in British school! | Baby Chums commented on Oct 09 09 at 1:27 pmelohveeee1012 commented on Jun 03 09 at 2:54 pmi am graduated with one set of twins, and my cousins are twins. thats all i can think of.
I have not met any twins recently, but my daughter is not even two yet and is not in any classes or anything. so I may meet some in the next year or two.
Marj commented on Jun 03 09 at 9:54 pmI went to HS with two sets of twins. I am not related to any sets of twins. I’m having twins now, thanks to Menopur. It does seem to me that they are slightly more common now than when I was younger.
Rose commented on Jun 27 09 at 5:31 pmI have twin uncles and twin great-uncles, and that was well before fertility drugs. O:
Claire commented on Jan 19 10 at 12:02 amI had distinct memory of a set of boy twins in my kindergarten class and a set of twin girls in high school. Other than that seeing twins is always amazing and out of the ordinary. I now have identical twin boys. It was a natural planned pregnancy during my 20s so the twinning took us by surprise, it happened by pure luck.
Tiana S commented on Apr 11 11 at 4:27 pmIn my prenatal class there were a total of 9 couples – and two were having twins (both with the use of fertility treatments).
My co-worker, who normally would be due at the same time I am, is also carrying twins, though hers are “natural”.
All are fraternal twins :)
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