Twins in The New York Times

This past Sunday, The New York Times printed “The Gift of Life, and Its Price” as the first installment in a series, “21st Century Babies.”

The article discusses the ethical issues regarding fertility medicine, specifying the risks of twin pregnancy– however, I felt some points about conceiving and carrying twins needed clarification for general readers. My response (the 5th letter in this link) is in today’s print edition, and reads as follows:

To the Editor:
I am a pediatrician and the mother of four, including twins.
Your readers should be aware that in a majority of cases, twins result for reasons besides IVF: as a natural occurrence; the fact that mothers over 30 have greater odds of ovulating more than one egg in a single ovulatory cycle; or other fertility hormone therapy.
The article says that “most twins go home without serious complications.” That is accurate, yet the rest of the article provides horribly sad tales of premature twins.
While the stories described are devastating for the families involved, they are worst-case scenarios that do not represent the majority of twin pregnancies and outcomes.
Certainly, it is important for families expecting twins to be aware of the inherent risks and possible outcomes. But readers might come away from this article with the impression that most twin pregnancies have terrible outcomes at exorbitant costs, and that is not the case.
Shelly Flais, Oct. 12, 2009
The writer is the author of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ “Raising Twins: From Pregnancy to Preschool.”