At Ida Elementary, Twins and Triplets are Common
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Posted: 9:20 AM Feb 21, 2010
At Ida Elementary, Twins and Triplets are Common
The school has 16 sets of twins and two sets of triplets in kindergarten through fourth-grade and more are on the way.
Reporter: AP
Email Address: Associated Press
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Twins and triplets are flooding the halls at 580-student Ida Elementary.
The school has 16 sets of twins and two sets of triplets in kindergarten through fourth-grade. But that's not all. Speech therapist Anne Gerwin is pregnant with twin girls, and middle school fifth-grade teacher Jessica Thompson is expecting multiples.
"We joke there must be something in the water," said Gerwin, who added that the previous owners of her current home had twins. "My next door neighbor has twin girls."
Gerwin now is more aware of the multiples in school.
"I ask the kids if they like dressing alike or if they want to dress differently," she said. "I get mixed feelings because some like it and others say they want to be different."
Kim Wegener -- a twin herself -- has a set of second-grade twins at Ida. Her mother had two sets of twin.
Wegener also is principal at Whiteford Elementary. That school has three sets of twin boys in kindergarten, alone, she said.
"I think with fertility treatments, women are having more multiples," Wegener said.
Jennifer and Greg Muir and their neighbors, Carol and Jerry Herkimer, each have a set of triplets at Ida.
Diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, Jennifer Muir had difficulty getting pregnant.
"All of a sudden, I had triplets," she said. "They were born at 28 weeks."
Carol Herkimer was "very shocked" when she learned she was pregnant with triplets.
"I was really impressed to have identical triplets without taking any fertility drugs," she said. "That's rare."
The three boys are in the same kindergarten class at Ida. "They are very close. My guys seem to stick together," she said.
A member of Monroe County Mother of Multiples, Herkimer said there are lots of women in the area who have multiples or know someone else who does.
"It seems everyone is connected to a set of multiples," she said.