Couples looking to have twins may want to set up a visit to Kodinhi India.
Baffled doctors are trying to unravel the mystery of the Indian village that boasts more than 220 sets of twins born to just 2,000 families.
Experts who have visited the remote tropical village have been left scratching their heads over the phenomenon that has seen almost six times as many twins born than the global average.
In 2008 alone 15 pairs of twins were born in the village out of 300 healthy deliveries and this year is expected to top that number.
In the last five years alone up to 60 pairs of twins have been born – with the rate of twins increasing year-on-year.
Although 220 sets of twins have been officially registered a Doctor in the village believes the real number to be far higher.
‘In my medical opinion there are around 300 to 350 twins within the village boundaries of Kodinhi,’ Local doctor and twin enthusiast Dr Krishnan Sribiju said.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that the Kodhini’s twin births do not follow regular twin trends.
- Indian people on the sub-continent have the lowest acknowledged incidences of twinning in the world at around four per thousand.
- Twins are born usually to older, more mature women. In Kodinhi that is not the case because marriage happens much younger here at around 18-20 years old and families begin very soon after.
- Twins occur in women who are generally over 5ft 3in in height. The height of women in Kodinhi is around 5ft on average.’
- ‘In addition, there is no IVF treatment here because of the prohibitive cost. Global rates of twins being born, especially in the western world, have increased because of artificial insemination.
School can be somewhat tricky in this town, with the majority of twins being of the identical kind and the fact that a large percentage are under the age of twenty.
Teachers find that many of the kids try to pull pranks and swap classes on them.
Citing the immense scientific implications should Kodinhi’s secret be discovered, Dr Sribiju is currently trying to assemble the research support he needs to delve deeper into the twin town of Kodinhi.
