(February 3, 2009—Fort Collins, Colorado) – With the media firestorm surrounding the Jan. 26 birth of only a second documented set of live octuplets born in the U.S., many moms and dads across the country are suddenly having to defend their roles as parents of twins, triplets or high-order multiples and TWINS™ Magazine is coming out in support of these families, no matter their method of conception.  TWINS™ Magazine, the world’s oldest and most comprehensive periodical for parents of multiples, has been providing important research findings and informative parenting tips and information on the unique joys and challenges of raising multiple birth children for over 25 years. 
 
“Many parents of multiples have been made to feel lately that they have actually done something wrong by having twins or more,” says Christa Reed, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of TWINS™ Magazine.”  Reed knew the magazine had to come out in support for these families when getting her twin boys ready for school last week, they heard a morning news interview with a fertility expert talking about conception of multiples say, ‘even nature makes mistakes sometimes.’ “One of my twins asked me if that meant he was a mistake since he is a twin?  This made me realize how important it is to continue to offer families with multiples the support and educational resources needed to combat the stigma attached to multiple-birth pregnancies while also educating the general public about multiple birth pregnancies.” 

In addition to publishing 6 educational and insightful issues of TWINS™ Magazine each year, the magazine’s website, www.TwinsMagazine.com, hosts the world’s largest online community forum where parents from around the globe exchange advice and experiences relating to twins and multiples. This cyber community offers first-hand parental advice and insight on topics covering conception, pregnancy, birth and every phase of childhood development.

According to the CDC, the incidence of twins in the U.S. is one in 32, while the incidence of multiples higher than triplets is one in 543.   Half of all triplet and higher order births resulted from assisted conception while the other half occurs naturally.  “Twins do not always run in families, and in fact, identical twins occur by chance,” states Dr. Rebecca Moskwinski, a regular contributor to TWINS™ Magazine, staff physician at the University of Notre Dame and mother of six children including twin daughters. “Sometimes other factors increase the chance of multiples, such as maternal age, number of previous pregnancies, geographic location and even diet. But the important thing is to realize that no matter how they are conceived, multiples are a blessing to hundreds of thousands of families across the United States,” adds Moskwinski.   For more information about TWINS™ Magazine call 1-888-55-TWINS (1-888-558-9467) or visit them at www.TwinsMagazine.com.