Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T03:47:37.824Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gestation and Birthweight in Dizygotic Twins: Girls Call the Tune

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Ruth J. F. Loos ,
Catherine Derom ,
Roger Eeckels ,
Robert Derom  and
Robert Vlietinck
Ruth J. F. Loos
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Department for Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Department of Sport and Movement Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; MRC Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Catherine Derom
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Department for Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Roger Eeckels
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Robert Derom
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Department for Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; Association for Scientific Research in Multiple Births, Destelbergen, Belgium.
Robert Vlietinck
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Department for Human Genetics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Unlike-sex twins provide a unique natural experiment to investigate the influence of sex on gestation. Our data showed that length of gestation of unlike-sex pairs is similar to that of female same-sex pairs, and significantly (0.4 wks, p = .02) longer than that of male same-sex pairs. Birthweight of female unlike-sex twins was similar to female same-sex twins, but male unlike-sex twins weighed 78 g more than male same-sex twins ( p = .001). These data show that in unlikesex pairs it is the girl that prolongs gestation for her brother, resulting in a higher birthweight than that of same-sex boys.

Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 10 , Supplement S1 , 01 December 2007 , pp. 6 - 7
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007