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T H E C R U C I B L E C E N T R E
Lawsons Long Alley, Hartley Vale 2790 tel. 6355 2223 or 4567 0044 admin @cruciblecentre.com
Diploma in Wholistic Psychotherapy + Certificate in Active Sandplay and Facilitation
Incorporating material used in the Graduate Diploma in Transpersonal Psychotherapy
NOTICE - WORKSHOP 27 & 28 AUGUST 2005 See Timetable page for bookings
Vanishing Twin Syndrome
For the other six articles: Symptoms - Who remembers? - True stories -Therapy - One example -Bibiography Medical model
Twins naturally occur in one birth in seventy. The era of assisted reproductive technology and the trend toward delayed childbirth have dramatically increased multiple births so that the incidence of twins is now 1 in 40 births.
Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS) occurs when one of a set of twin fœtuses apparently disappears from the womb during pregnancy. The mother usually does not know this has happened. Superficially there seem to be no after-effects for either the mother or the survivor.
VTS was first described by Stoeckel in 1945, but doctors have been researching the physical side of VTS only since the mid-1980s. It was brought to light when ultrasounds showed two fœtuses in the early months of pregnancy, and only one later.
Medical research has indicated that at least one in eight births were conceived as twins, though only one in seventy survive as twins. Because ultrasounds are seldom effective before six weeks, and twin-loss may occur then, this figure may be much higher.
In assisted ovulation pregnancies almost half of multiple pregnancies result in twins.
In our clinical experience 25-30 percent of all clients have had a twin, though the traumas this leaves behind may have predisposed these people to join in therapy more than those who were not.
Loss usually occurs in the first 9 weeks, which may be the most common cause of first trimester bleeding. Losses later in the pregnancy will usually result in some fœtal material being produced when the co-twin is born. It occurs most often in older mothers, with equal frequency in monozygotic and dizygotic twins.
There are physical consequences. When death occurs the fœtal tissue will be
- absorbed into the other twin
- into the placenta to be absorbed by the mother
- into the mother, when the only evidence is vaginal bleeding or cramping.
- Discharged, and the mother may remember having miscarried
- occasionally the remains may be retained in the womb, called the fœtus papyraceous.
One usually has the impression that the twin has just vanished. Though there seem to be no short-term problems for the mother, evidence from clients suggests that in some cases (presumably where the fœtus has been absorbed into the mother's system) the mother will develop serious teeth trouble over the next decade or so, and show signs of toxic poisoning that may affect the bones and some body functions, and may cause ulcers.
Often it is the male who dies, but certainly not always.
The mother needs to deal with the unconscious grief, and seldom does. It is good for the parents to acknowledge the loss of the child, as well as the joy at the birth of the co-twin. There is also the loss from whatever feelings the parents may have had about their own wish to be parents of twins.
A VTS birth may result in a number of medical problems for the co-twin, as there is a higher risk of
- The spastic form of cerebral palsy - a risk of one in ten.
- Rarely extra toes or fingers, extra organs such as having 3 kidneys
- Sexual identity confusion
- Eating disorders, allergies
- Short-sighted, astigmatism
- Sensitive skin, eczema
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