A rapid evolution mechanism may contribute to changes in sex ratio, multiple birth incidence, frequency of auto-immune disease and frequency of birth defects in Clomid conceptions

Mysteries of Monozygosity: Theories and Breakthroughs/Twin Research: Rare Case of Lost Twins; Developing a National Twin Registry; Twins' Language and Gesture Delays; DNA Testing for Vanishing Twins/Media Reports: Identical Twins Discordant for COVID Vaccination; World's Oldest Identical Twins; Olympic Athlete Stand-in; Fraternal Twin Football Players

The processes that give rise to monozygotic (MZ) twins remain elusive. This article describes various theories of MZ twinning that have been examined over the years, although they continue to be speculative. It has also been impossible to know if a singleton began life as an MZ twin; however, a critical technological breakthrough can now reveal this important birth history information with a high degree of certainty. The section that follows presents reviews of current research regarding rare twin loss, development of a twin registry, twins' communicative delays and DNA testing for vanishing twins. The article concludes with a survey of newsworthy twins, namely identical twins discordant for COVID vaccination, the world's oldest identical twins, an Olympic athletic stand-in and fraternal twin football players.

The New Sesquizygotic Twins and More: Exotic Twin Types/Twin Research Reviews: Parental Affection and Co-Twins’ Personality; Prenatal Demise in Twin Pregnancies; Heteropaternal Superfecundation; Selective Feticide in Dichorionic Twins/In the News: Identical Twin Oscar Winner; ‘Superfecundated’ Twins with Gay Fathers; Partly Living Apart; Which Twin Committed the Crime?

The second recorded case of sesquizygotic (SQZ) twins is summarized. It is suspected that SQZ twins result from the fertilization of an egg by two separate spermatozoa, followed by division of the fertilized ovum. Next, recent studies examining how differences in parental affection affect co-twins’ personality profiles, the prenatal demise of fetuses during twin pregnancy, a forensic case of heteropaternal superfecundation and selective feticide in dichorionic twins are reviewed. Finally, summaries of newsworthy items featuring an identical twin Oscar winner, a case of ‘superfecundated’ twins born to a gay couple, identical twins who try partly living apart and new molecular techniques to distinguish an innocent identical twin from his or her guilty co-twin are presented.

Ovulation induction and early pregnancy loss in a woman susceptible to autoimmune diseases: a possible interrelationship

We report a 34-year-old woman with sequentially occurring autoimmune diseases that are possibly triggered by numerous ovulation inductions. At the ages of 26-32 years, she experienced 27 uncontrolled ovulation induction cycles using clomiphene citrate (CC) or CC plus human menopausal gonadotropin plus human chorionic gonadotropin. She became pregnant at the ages of 27, 30 and 31 with subsequent pregnancy loss in the 28th, 8th and 10th week of gestation, respectively. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) developed at the age of 28. During the second year of ovulation induction, at the age of 27, she developed arthralgia that worsened and became migratory from the age of 31. Thrombocytopenia appeared at the age of 33. The diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) was established at the age of 34. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of concurrent IDDM, SLE and APS in a patient associated with ovulation inductions. Excessive levels of estradiol achieved during the ovulation inductions could play a role in the expression of multiple autoimmune diseases in the susceptible woman.