As fertility rates fall in rich nations, older mothers and natural conception are set to drive a twin boom in low-income countries, changing the future of childbirth

Twins have always fascinated us. Across cultures, they have been celebrated as symbols of luck, fertility, or even divine intervention. But behind the cultural charm lies a harder truth: twin pregnancies are riskier for both mothers and babies, especially in countries where health systems are already stretched thin.

Over the past few decades, the world has seen a quiet but significant rise in twin births, shows a recent study published in Oxford Academic. Most of this increase comes not from identical twins, which remain steady at around 3-4 per 1,000 births, but from fraternal twins, which are shaped by maternal age and medical interventions. And the rise is only set to accelerate: by 2050, most countries could see their twin birth rates climb anywhere from a fraction to more than 60%, and by 2100, the increase could be as high as 79%.