A single mother said it was a “miracle” that she had two sets of twins in a row by age 21 — despite being on birth ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ.
Now 22, Kaitlin Brooks remembers being ecstatic to learn she was expecting twins in March 2019. Following her sons’ — Denver and Dayton — first birthday, she received news that she was pregnant with twins a second time, even though she was taking a birth ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ ᴘɪʟʟ.
“I had two sets of twins by the age of 21. I had my first set at 19 and my second at 21, My doctor told me that every time I get pregnant it will be twins because I ᴅʀᴏᴘ two eggs every time.” Brooks said
The “blessed,” full-time mom of four ᴇɴᴛᴇʀᴛᴀɪɴs the idea of one day tying her tubes since birth ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ proved to be faulty for her. Until then, she is looking into becoming an sᴜʀʀᴏɢᴀᴛᴇ for women who can’t have children of their own.
“I feel that what’s happened is a miracle because for the longest time, I didn’t think I could get pregnant, Knowing that if I fall pregnant again I’ll have multiples again is scary because I don’t see how I could do another set.” she said
Twins, she said, run in her family — her great-grandmother’s sisters had twins and triplets — but was still “sʜᴏᴄᴋed” when she discovered she would have twins, too. In November 2020, when her first set of fraternal twins was only one year old, she found out she was pregnant again.
“It was a surprise again and another sʜᴏᴄᴋ for me. I definitely didn’t think it was twins again. I found out that I was pregnant a little bit earlier on when I was three weeks and found out they were twins at six weeks.” she said
Brooks’ mom even assumed she was kidding about having another set of twins, Pierce and Piper, due to being on birth ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ. She was on birth ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ the ᴘɪʟʟ when she got pregnant with the babies.
“People are very sʜᴏᴄᴋed when I tell them that I’ve got two sets of twins because I’m only 22,” Brooks said. A lot of people were sʜᴏᴄᴋed and said ‘I don’t see how you do it?’
While she isn’t planning on having her tubes tied at such a young age, she’s considering becoming an sᴜʀʀᴏɢᴀᴛᴇ, because “there’s a lot of moms out there that can’t carry their own.” Although, she plans to wait until her own gets a bit older. She isn’t planning on having any more of her own children. She is happy with the four that she has now
Twins tend to run in families, and now ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇʀs have identified two ɢᴇɴᴇs that make women more likely to conceive nonidentical twins. Both ɢᴇɴᴇs are related to the production and processing of the hormone that helps oocytes mature. Research shows for the first time that we can identify ɢᴇɴᴇᴛɪᴄ ᴠᴀʀɪᴀɴᴛs that contribute to this likelihood.
There are two ways that a woman may conceive twins. In one case, her ovaries release two eggs at the time of ovulation, and both are fertilized and become embryos; this results in fraternal, or nonidentical, twins. In contrast, identical twins are conceived when one embryo splits into two early in its development. Women who have a family history of fraternal twins — especially among their female relatives — are likelier to have twins themselves, suggesting that genetics plays a role.
