OVER the past 15 years there has been a whopping 75 per cent increase in the birth of twins and triplets, the vast majority of them a result of fertility treatment as women in Cyprus follow the western trend of having babies increasingly later in life.
A mere 15 years ago it was women between the ages of 20 and 24 who gave birth to the most children. Today the number of births in this age bracket has dramatically declined, while the 25 to 29-year-old age bracket and the 30 to 34-year-olds are now almost on par in terms of birth figures. Women over the age of 35 are also fast catching up.
Whilst twins are relatively common, the odds of conceiving ‘spontaneous’ triplets au natural is a mere 1 in 8,100.
“If you consider that 1/6 of the female population is now undergoing some sort of fertility treatment it obviously leads to the production of more eggs,” says Charalambos Sergiou, embryologist and co-director of the Cyprus Fertility Centre. “So of course, there is definitely a link between a rise in fertility treatments and an increase in the number of twins and triplets.”
Now a worldwide phenomenon, recent research points to a stunning 400 per cent increase in triplet births around the globe in the past 20 years.
It’s comes as little surprise that fertility treatments go hand in hand with women struggling to have children at an older age. “Many women are now following a career path and then hit their mid-thirties and decide it’s time to start having a family. But obviously they are no longer as fertile and so most often opt for various treatments,” the embryologist explains. “But it’s not just that, it’s also a change in mentality. Women are not only becoming more aware of available treatments but it’s also becoming less of a taboo in Cypriot society. People are becoming more relaxed with the idea as success rates are now publicised. There are also doctors who unfortunately sometimes too quickly encourage women to go down the path of IVF.”
Sergiou points out however that it’s not just IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) that gives rise to multiples. In fact, they often arise from natural intercourse following hormone therapy and from IUI (intrauterine insemination). While fertility drugs stimulate the ovaries, increasing the odds that a woman will release several eggs at one time, those who specifically undergo IVF have a 20 to 40 per cent chance of having more than one child, depending on how many embryos are placed in the womb.
“While a number of countries including England have enforced laws that regulate the number of embryos that a doctor is allowed to place inside a womb, no such law has yet been set in motion in Cyprus although talks are ongoing about the matter,” says Sergiou. “As things stand each doctor does pretty much what he likes or what he sees best. Here at the centre we don’t place more than two embryos unless the woman is over 40.”
When a woman does fall pregnant with twins or triplets she can then opt to abort one. This is very rare in the case of twins. “But when there are triplets a number of women do choose to reduce,” he says. “Whether it’s morally correct or not is a different issue, but the fact is that women with triplets do often have complications at birth and one of the babies does sometimes have health problems.”
As fertility treatments slowly become more refined, the number of multiples conceived is likely to decrease, but in the mean time the sight of a mother with three very similar, sometimes identical, children has become nothing unusual.
But for the parents themselves, the rewards of having three children all the same age can get lost in the sheer daily grind of bringing them up.
To help bewildered parents an Association of Families of Triplets has recently been established. The aim is to ensure families with triplets come together and lend each other a helping hand but also act as a pressure group for greater state help.
“The purpose of the association is that of sharing experiences and seeing how we can help each other. More than this, we have to see how the state can help in solving our problems,” says association president, Vangelis Malas.
“If three children come into a household at one time it means that the mother automatically has to stop working. That means the family is immediately short of income that’s not covered by the government. You do get some cash from the state which is only given to you once when they are born and it’s just enough for their cots and all the others bits you need to first buy.”
As things stand, the government gives a lump sum of €7,000 to mothers working in the private sector when triplets are born. They then have to return to work after the routine 18 weeks maternity leave.
Women who have been working in governmental and semi-governmental organisations receive €1,000 upon birth but benefit by a year off work on full salary. “But we believe that all mothers with triplets should receive benefits for two years which is roughly the amount of time that a mother really needs to be off work and next to her triplets,” says Malas.
Secretary of the group and mother of triplets, 36-year-old Evangelia Constantinou, agrees.
“The basic problem that we face is an economic one. We want the government to recognise our needs as mothers with triplets; not just a three children family,” Evangelia says. “That means buying three buggies at the same time, three pampers, three times as much milk and the list goes on.”
Having given birth to her triplets four years ago she describes the experience as a pleasurable but hard one.
“There is no way I could get through the first year without help which I still have from my mother. I’m also lucky to be a teacher which means I had a year off work,” she says. “The first two years were extremely difficult and I was tired all the time. Just imagine that some women have no help and have to go back to work after just 18 weeks’ maternity leave.”
Janet Ioannou is a working mum who certainly has her hands full, with her ten-year-old triplets and a 15-year-old girl. A chartered accountant by profession, the then 32-year-old Janet had to give up her job for 18 months when the triplets were born. Not able to handle the task alone, a live in help was hired and Janet’s mum jetted in from the UK to help out for the first few weeks.
Admitting that her life changed completely the moment the kids were born, dealing with three simultaneously screaming tots was certainly a trying task.
“It had its good moments but there were dark times. The experience changes you,” she says.
Discipline is extremely important in keeping chaos at bay, and Janet admits that ‘stop’ was one of the first words that the triplets learnt. And when it now comes to daily routine in the house, things are as regimented as they can be.
“We have school snacks pre-agreed on and written up on the fridge so it’s not a question of choice. We can’t waste food or argue. When it comes to dinners they have to eat what’s on the table and we can’t bend to ‘I don’t fancy that today’.”
She knows only too well the financial strain of looking after triplets.
“Just imagine school – you need to buy three sets of books and three sets of uniform and nothing can get passed down. Then you need a big car to fit them in and you need a bigger house to accommodate them with enough bedrooms.”
Janet proposes government aid for parents with multiples as well as completely free health care. “Think of all the immunisations that you need to give them, many of which you can’t get for free. The chicken pox vaccine alone is €100 a shot.
“I have to admit that the first year I had them I was pretty much ticking days off the calendar. It was certainly a long winter as they all came down with gastro and the flu. There was just no end to tha
t year,” she recalls.
Pursuing her career has also not been easy, especially when it comes to the long summer holidays. “I wish I had time to be with them but I just can’t give up work. So we have to send them off to summer schools,” she says. “There are not many people willing to babysit three kids.”
But when it comes to the rewards, Janet doesn’t hesitate.
“The look on their faces when they’re all celebrating their birthday together. It’s also lovely to cover them in their blankets when they’re asleep,” she says. “To look at the three of them is simply quite stunning.”
