Incredible 17 sets of twins due to start primary school in same town

It is about to be a testing time for teachers in Scottish town, Inverclyde, as an incredible 17 sets of twins are set to start primary school this year.

Ahead of the new term, most of this year's twin intake (15 out of the 17 sets of multiples) met for their pre-school dress rehearsal at St Patrick’s Primary in Greenock, Inverclyde, ready to start school in late August.

St Patrick's, alongside Ardgowan Primary, will take the largest number of twins in the group - taking three pairs each.

Remarkably this is the second time the town has witnessed such a high twin intake in a decade, with 19 sets of twins starting school in the same year in 2015.

The bizarre phenomenon has seen Inverclyde nicknamed 'Twinverclyde', with 147 sets of twins having attended local schools since 2013 - an average of 13 per year.

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Depute provost at St Patrick’s Primary, Graeme Brooks, says it has become an annual tradition in Inverclyde to welcome our twins into primary one.

“Excitement is definitely building for the start of the new term next week and what better way to look forward to that than seeing the pupils here looking resplendent in their uniforms," he says.

“It’s also a good bit of fun for parents too – and a handy dress rehearsal ahead of the real thing next Friday.

“We’re lucky to have so many incredible schools here in Inverclyde with every one renewed or extensively refurbished, including St Patrick’s which was rebuilt and opened in 2016, thanks to the council’s unprecedented quarter of a billion pound investment in our schools estate.

“But schools are nothing without the children, staff and families who make them and it’s great to see some of the next generation coming through here today and I wish them all the very best as they embark on the next stage of their education journey.”

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Among the twins set to start school were five-year-olds Anna and Aaron Fulton, who are enrolled at another local school, King’s Oak Primary.

“It’s such a big day, after a long wait for them to start its come almost too quickly," mum Arlene explains.

“Seventeen sets of twins is something else, it must be something in the water.

“They’re really excited to start school, I held off putting them in for a year because I thought it’d be better for them with Covid and they’re so ready this year.

“They’re going to be in separate classes which I hope gives them a wee bit of independence and space.”

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Twins: the facts

According to the charity the Twins Trust in the UK about one in every 65 pregnancies results in a multiple birth.

There has been an upward trend in the numbers over the last 20 years. The rise is attributed to fertility treatments, the survival rates of premature babies and women starting their families later.

On average research reveals 11% of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) pregnancies result in either twins or triplets compared with 1-2% of natural conceived pregnancies.

One-third of all twins will be identical and two-thirds non-identical.

Interestingly, the NHS says everyone has the same chance of having identical twins: about 1 in 250.

Identical twins do not run in families. But there are some factors that make having non-identical twins more likely including:

• Your ethnic group - non-identical twins are more common in some ethnic groups, with the highest rate among Nigerians and the lowest among Japanese

• Your age - if you’re pregnant and over 35 you’re more likely to have non-identical twins because you’re more likely to release more than one egg during ovulation

• Your family - non-identical twins run on the mother's side of the family, probably because of an inherited tendency to release more than one egg

Additional reporting SWNS.