Double Trouble? India's Mysterious Twin Village

KODINH, India, May 20, 2009— -- Two hours from the nearest airport, at the end of a stomach-churning curving road, is a paradise of palm trees, purple houses and what is believed to be the world's highest concentration of twins.

In this tiny village of about 2,000 families, more than 300 have sets of twins. And in the case of many families, multiple sets of twins. There are about 45 twins per 1,000 births here, which is nearly six times the national average.

Mohammed Ali Pottayi's family has seven boys ranging in age from 18 to 4, including two sets of twins aged 12 and 4.

Pottayi and his wife, Suhara, feel fortunate for their unique family.

"Very happy," said the husband. "Two things you're getting in one."

His wife feels the same.

"I was very happy," she said.

Neither one was surprised by the multiple twin births, which is easy to understand considering that as we're speaking in their driveway filled with grass-eating goats, neighboring 12-year-old boy and girl twins stop by.

The town's unofficial motto goes something like this: If you don't have kids, if you are having fertility trouble, come to our town and stay a while because you will leave with many kids.

Down another twisting road, dotted with men wearing traditional skirts called dhotis, are the newest additions to the village: twin girls Afna and Afra Kozapavetit, who are 65 days old.

Like the Pottayis, the Kozapavetit family of eight is very enthusiastic.

"I'm happy that I have twins," said mother Asiya, who admits that twins are more tiring than singletons. Asiya gave birth to twin girls Lubana and Lubaba seven years ago.

"I didn't feel anything surprising," said father Yusuf, an auto rickshaw driver. "In Kodinhi, this is not a rare phenomenon so it's expected."

The town's oldest living twins are 65-year-old sisters Fatima Kutty and Kuhni Pathutty. They say they don't remember any other twins when they were growing up. They also added that they are very happy to be twins.

Dr. Krishnan Sribiju has been studying the village of twins for two years. The dermatologist works in a nearby hospital and is currently studying for his master's degree in public health. In his free time, he is trying to unravel the medical mystery.

He is in contact with scientists all over the globe. Nigeria has the world's highest population of twins on average, but this Indian village is special because of its highly localized concentration, he explained.

"A lot of works have been done on this field," he said. "But no researchers could find an answer, a definitive answer, on what is actually causing this phenomenon."

The doctor has a few theories on why it's happening, including perhaps something to do with what people are consuming.

"I feel that something in the environment is causing this unusual phenomenon," the doctor said. "Maybe something in the water. Maybe something in the food."

Sribiju believes that most of the twins are fraternal although he has conducted no tests to confirm this. Fraternal twins, which occur when two fertilized eggs are implanted into the uterine wall concurrently, can be either same or mixed sex. Identical twins occur when one egg is fertilized, then splits into two separate embryos; they can only be single sex.

Standing in the dusty courtyard of their school, 14-year-old twin sisters Arunima and Aswathi Nair describe their status within the community. If not for their different colored pink and yellow salwar kameez's, the girls are practically indistinguishable. Not surprisingly, Arumina said she enjoys being a twin.

"Very much happy," she said in halting English.

"We get noticed in the school," she explained through a translator. "People are giving more love because we're twins."

Their father, Gopi Nair, is thrilled.

"I'm very much happy," he said. The father admitted to being surprised that he and his wife had twins even though his wife is also a twin.

Nair said he doesn't know why his village has so many twins, but two-time twin father Mr. Kozapavetit said he has the answer.

"I hear people say that's it's because of the water, but I strongly believe that it's given by God's gift," he said.