The Case Of Vanishing Twin Syndrome

By Sharon Kelly


Having twins is not something that is easy to do because of the possible complications of holding two babies in one womb. One of the things that may happen during the early part of the pregnancy is known as the vanishing twin syndrome. For those who are curious about it, here are a few things that one should know about this condition.

As the name implies, it is a condition wherein one of two children born from the same womb would suddenly disappear while in the womb due to a miscarriage. When this happens, the child that is still there would absorb the fetal tissue and the placenta of the other one that vanished. Hence, it actually seems as if the other one suddenly did vanish into thin air, leaving only one child in the womb to be born.

As to when this incident usually occurs, it would usually happen some time during the first trimester of the pregnancy and is spotted through ultrasound. The first ultrasound will tell the parents that there are twins in the womb. The next ultrasound will then confirm if one twin disappears which will conclude that the mother had this syndrome.

This type of phenomenon happens in about thirty percent of pregnancies with twins and would usually happen at the very early stages of pregnancies. Mothers may not even know that they had this condition because one of the children may just have vanished letting the other child absorb everything. In any case, mothers may have readings of a miscarriage but only be aware of having one child.

Unfortunately, the cause for this sort of incident is still unknown or cannot be concluded. There have been a few studies that have linked this condition with abnormalities found in the chromosomes of the vanished twin. Other than that, there have been no conclusive evidence that would state the true cause or causes of this condition.

There are usually no complications with the surviving twin if this does happen early in the pregnancy such as the first trimester. As mentioned above, the mother may not even notice that it had happened unless she takes an ultrasound. In any case, the surviving baby may also not be aware that he or she has a sibling and will come out healthy.

Of course, things are a little bit different for the pregnancies that experience this condition in later trimesters. For instance, if this were to happen in the second trimester, then doctors would usually put the pregnancy at a high risk state in the event of complications. One common complication of this happening would be cerebral palsy for the surviving child.

While early detection of this kind of condition and an early occurrence may not be of any concern, late occurrence is. The key to this syndrome is to ensure awareness of what it is and how to deal with it. That said, it is highly recommended that women who are experiencing the symptoms such as pain in the pelvic area, bleeding, and uterine cramps go see her doctor right away.




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