The Land of Twins

It sounds like something out of a strange science-fiction movie, but there’s actually a town in Nigeria known as “The Land of Twins.” That’s because the little village of Igbo-Ora has an unusually high incidence of natural twin births. Scientists are puzzled as to why this occurs.

Nearly 5 percent of the births among the Yoruba community in Igbo-Ora result in twins, compared to about 0.5 percent of all births internationally. Some people believe it might be because the villagers eat a lot of yams, which have a natural hormone called phytoestrogen that may stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs. Others believe it’s a matter of genetics; perhaps the women in Yoruban families have inherited the tendency to release more eggs.

Fortunately, the Yoruba believe that twins bring good luck and are a gift from God. This is different from some other areas of Africa, where they believe that twins have special powers and can hurt people they don’t like. Before missionaries entered Africa and changed certain superstitions, some African communities would kill twins and even their mothers, believing that a twin birth meant that the mother had been sexually active with two men.

Interestingly, the Yoruba also believe that twins share a soul. Thus, if one twin dies, a wooden figure called an “ibeji” is made in place of the dead twin. The other half of the soul from the deceased twin will reside in the ibeji, they believe, which the mother then dresses and feeds as if it were alive. When a surviving twin becomes an adult, he assumes responsibility for the ibeji. If both children die, the mother participates in an elaborate ceremony where she dances with two ibeji figures to represent her dead children.

Women who wish to become pregnant with twins without the use of fertility technology might want to consider a diet heavy in yams!