Most twins are born anywhere between a few minutes to several hours apart, depending on the type of delivery. Delivery by c-section tends to occur just a few minutes apart for twins, while vaginal births may last longer.
In 2012 however, two twin girls were born 87 days apart in Ireland. The first girl, Amy Elliot, was born prematurely on 1 June, 2012, while the second girl, Katie Elliot, was born on 27 August, 2012. The mother's contractions stopped after the delivery of the first twin and the second twin was able to remain in the womb for nearly three more months. The premature twin remained in intensive care for some time and was joined by her sister in August.
As of 2012, this is the longest interval recorded between the birth of twins. The previous record belonged to twins Hanna and Eric Lynn of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., who were delivered 84 days apart in 1995 and 1996.
More about twins:
- 99.9% of genes in identical twins are the same.
- The country Benin, in Central Africa, has the highest rate of twin births -- 27.9 twins for every 1,000 births.
- Identical twins do not have the same fingerprint because fingerprints do not depend entirely on genes.