The Further Adventures of Germ Girl

In case you ever wondered how much IVF made twin births rise, here’s data from the NCHS, with the biggest hike in the oldest mothers.

Some of their comments:

• In 2009, 1 in every 30 babies born in the United States was a twin, compared with 1 in every 53 babies in 1980.
• The twin birth rate rose 76 percent from 1980 through 2009, from 18.9 to 33.3 per 1,000 births.
• If the rate of twin births had not changed since 1980, approximately 865,000 fewer twins would have been born in the United States over the last three decades.
• Twinning rates rose by at least 50 percent in the vast majority of states and the District of Columbia.
• Over the three decades, twin birth rates rose by nearly 100 percent among women aged 35–39 and more than 200 percent among women aged 40 and over.