Suchergebnisse

Since 1876, statistical data on twin and multiple (TAM) births and deliveries have been registered in Hungary. Although there were some years during this 138-year period when twin births and deliveries were left out of the statistics, the trends can be followed, except for the period of World War II. The trends of twinning over the past four decades are summarized in this article, relying on official statistical data since 1970. Notably, the TAM birth rate rose following the Act CLIV of 1997 on Health. The Act provided state support for assisted reproductive treatments (ART), which spectacularly increased the ratio of twins — and especially of triplets — among live births. The trend has turned around since 2009–2010, and a decreasing era of TAM births seems to have begun. This article discusses some of the main and most interesting findings connected with TAM births, including twinning rates associated with different age groups, educational level, and actual place of residence by mothers, and the number of previous pregnancies of the mother. Ratios of live born males compared with live born females, lengths and weights at birth both among twins and singletons, and infant mortality rates have been calculated from the data. Twinning rates are higher in the western counties, the capital and its suburbs, and lower in the eastern counties.

Aiming to perform the first sociological survey of Hungarian twins, our main question was whether being a twin has positive consequences on one's life. Adult twins completed our questionnaire at three Hungarian summer twin festivals, in hospitals during medical twin studies, and on some websites online. Data represent 140 twin pairs (mean age: 38.2 ± 14.6 years). We employed some indices for measuring the resource nature of twinship. Three main types of benefits were distinguished: profit of attraction, as 'material capital'; the easier obtainability of cultural goods when twins take part in it, as 'cultural capital'; and positive aspects of an a priori existing dyadic relation, as 'relational capital'. We were interested in the difference among types of twins regarding advantages. We paid special attention to the five groups of twins derived from gender and zygosity (i.e., monozygotic females, monozygotic males, dizygotic females, dizygotic males, opposite-sex pairs). Our analysis showed that Hungarian twins involved in our research basically enjoy their twinship; during their lives they used and still make use of different benefits given by it. In our twin samples, women had more advantages from being a twin than men. Significant differences could be observed on all indicators between monozygotic and dizygotic twins.