Twin City?

We recently learned that Massachusetts has a higher rate of twin births than any other state in the U.S., and Boston is especially twin-heavy. This trend can be attributed to two main reasons: Massachusetts is one of the first states to offer comprehensive insurance coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and, in Boston specifically, the average age of first time mothers is 28, well over the national average (as a woman gets older, she is more likely to release more than one egg at a time). We do not fall into either category as the girls are identical, thus not a result of IVF or Stacey's aging ovaries.

I didn't think much of this until a friend pointed out this piece by Julie Suratt of Boston Magazine. It's an interesting read. Ms. Suratt is the mother of fraternal twins and shares some interesting anecdotes from her experience. Her boys are older than H&R, so some of her experiences are familiar (back and forth to the hospital, etc.), and some just cause me anxiety (we are in big trouble when the girls become mobile).

But she also talks about twins as some sort of epidemic, painting a picture of Massachusetts as a place where double strollers plow you off the sidewalk, daycares are so full of twins that poor singletons can't get in, NICU's are buried in twins to the exclusion of single babies, and where legions of mothers are on the verge of going postal because, in Ms. Suratt's words, they'd be better off with bubonic plague than twins. (ok, so I twisted her words a bit - I'm a lawyer after all).

I guess I'm not sure how to feel about all of this. I would hate for some sort of backlash against twins to develop - especially since we didn't contribute to this increase in twins on purpose. It seems to me that, aside from the strain on neonatal units (twins are far more likely to need medical attention after birth), the strain on society by twins is only marginally worse than by having more than one child. Where is the backlash against all of those third siblings taking up room in schools?

I only see Massachusetts' spot on top of the twin list as a positive. It means we have more resources (like twin mother support groups and excellent NICUs) and our twins are even MORE special because identical twins are even rarer here in relation to all of these fraternal twins being born.

I'd love to hear what others think about this.