Human Reproduction, Vol 13, 95-98, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
S Tong and RV Short
There is widespread concern about a possible decline in human fertility in
recent decades. The spontaneous dizygotic twinning rate provides a way of
measuring a combination of male plus female fertility as it reflects the
frequency of double ovulation, the probability of fertilization, and the
survival of the zygote. There was a decline in dizygotic twinning rates in
developed countries which began around 1960 and continued until the late
1970s. The exact cause of the fall remains unknown. We suggest that it
could have been due to a depression in the twin ovulation rate in women who
stopped taking the oral contraceptive pill. The rise in the dizygotic
twinning rates which occurred from the 1980s onwards in developed countries
is almost certainly due to increasing use of ovulation-inducing agents, but
this rise may have masked a continuing decline in dizygotic twinning.
Monozygotic twinning rates have remained remarkably constant or increased
only very slightly in recent decades. This makes it possible to use the
dizygotic:monozygotic twinning ratio to monitor dizygotic twinning in
populations where true incidence rates cannot be calculated, e.g. in
hospitals where there may be selective referral of twins.
REVIEWS
Dizygotic twinning as a measure of human fertility
Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
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