The village of Kodinji, India, is home to approximately 230 sets of twins. That doesn't sound like a lot, but in a village of only 15,000 people, that is four times the number of twins than is common in the rest of the world. In the industrialized world, twins occur more commonly in women between the ages of 35-40, but most marriages in Kodinji occur between the ages of 18 and 20, so women are bearing twins at a young age.
Doctors and scientists are puzzled as to why there are so many twins in Kodinji. They don't believe the villagers are exposed to any harmful drugs or chemicals. A local doctor, M.K. Sribiju, believes there is something in the environment, perhaps in the water, that is causing twinning. The village's fields are surrounded by water, and the village becomes quite isolated due to rains during the monsoon season.
It is a mystery that has yet to be solved!
Comments
LOVE IT!
Wow, I wonder if anyone ever travels to places like this in order to have twins? What a concept!
Are there other places like this in the world?
Twins in the World
The Yoruba people of Nigeria also have an extraordinarily high incidence of twins. I've never heard of anyone traveling to these places to have twins, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few people have tried it! However, I would guess the people are getting some sort of long-term exposure to something to cause the high twinning rate (or it's something in their genetics), so I doubt just a visit would have any effect on conceiving twins.
Susan M. Heim is the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More and It's Twins! Parent-to-Parent Advice from Infancy Through Adolescence.
do they eat a lot of sweet
do they eat a lot of sweet potatoes?
Yams
That seems to be the theory for the Yoruba of Africa, who also have a very high rate of twinning. Apparently, they eat a lot of yams, which contain estrogenic substances. But I don't think that's the case for this village in India.
Susan M. Heim is the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More and It's Twins! Parent-to-Parent Advice from Infancy Through Adolescence.