Rising multiple births in the United States

Rogelio Saenz, Texas A&M University
Bethany DeSalvo, Texas A&M University

The prevalence of twin births in the United States almost doubled from 68,000 in 1980 to 132,000 in 2004, while the number of triplet-plus births skyrocketed more than five-fold from 1,337 to 7,727 during this period. Such births tend to be associated with a variety of factors, such as family history, delayed childbearing and infertility treatment. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics for the 2002-2004 period are used to examine racial/ethnic and geographic disparities associated with multiple births. The results show that white women are significantly more likely to have multiple births compared to black and Latina women. The states with the highest twin birth rates tend to be located primarily in the Northeast and in selected areas of the Midwest and South. The paper concludes with discussions related to disparities and reproduction.