Igboora:The Twins Capital of the World

                                                  Twins Capital of the World

African Twins

               "The best thing in life comes in pairs"

Globally, the birth rate of twins differs by region and country. Europe boasts about 16 twins for every 1,000 childbirths and the United States about 33 for every 1,000 These statistics pale when compared to Africa where Scientists from Oxford and Radboud University found that Africa is home to the world’s highest rate of twin-births among regions in the developing world and the developed, with 45 sets of twins per 1000 births. By contrast, Latin America and Southeast Asia record fewer than 10 sets of twins per 1000 births.

A research by British gynaecologist, Patrick Nylander, between 1972 and 1982, recorded an average of 45 sets of twins per 1000 live births in Igbo-ora a sleepy town in Oyo State located in the Western part of Nigeria. Kodinji, India and Candido Godoi, Brasil also boast a unusual number of twins birth but the highest in the world is still found in Nigeria and pricisely Igboora.Almost all the household in Igbo-ora boast a twin or more and it's common sight to see twins on the streets of the town .A yearly Festival is organised to celebrate twins worldwide in this town.

Read about The African Venus

There are speculations that the births might be due to genetics, research has however suggested that the multiple childbirths could be related to the eating habits of the women in the region.

Research into multiple twin births carried out by fertility experts at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria has suggested that the high level of consumption of natural hormone phytoestrogen found in yam(Dioscorea spp) a root-tuber staple eaten by Yoruba women could be the result of the high incidence of multiple births, as it is presumed to stimulate the ovaries to release eggs from both sides.

A hospital gynecologist offered this by way of explanation: ‘These substances are usually linked to the issue of more than one egg, which mostly leads to twin pregnancies. That means that there is possibly an environmental factor that encourages the significant level of this chemical substance’.

Read about infertility in the Mortal

However, Dr Sulaiman Heylen, who serves as the Vice President of the Southern African Society of Reproductive Medicine and Gynecological Endoscopy, proposed that there is no empirical evidence for the high prevalence of twin childbirths in the town. Speaking to Africa Check, he said: ‘There is no scientific evidence that yams, or any other product or food, can increase a woman’s chances of having twins

You should visit Igbo-ora if you desire to have twins, You just might be lucky!