From today's Electronic Telegraph:

ISSUE 1451 - Sunday 16 May 1999

Millennium parents in line for double trouble, By Robert Matthews, Science Correspondent

COUPLES vying to have the first "Millennium baby" born on Jan 1, 2000 may be in for a shock at their first check-up, with research suggesting that they conceived at the time of year in which they are 10 per cent more likely than average to produce twins.

Thousands of couples are believed to have made a determined effort to conceive during the first week in April - which scientists at the Falkhalsan Institute of Genetics in Helsinki, Finland, have identified as a peak for twin conceptions.

And with twin pregnancies being typically around 21 days shorter than the normal 38 weeks, millennial parents face a double whammy, with their twins arriving in early December - missing the target date by three weeks. Medical scientists admit that they have little understanding of why about one in 80 pregnancies results in twins, although some research suggests a link with more frequent love-making. Why the timing of conception should alter the probability of having twins is also unclear.

Whatever the reason, couples in the race for a Millennium baby now face a tense wait until the end of July, when the first ultrasound scans become due, to discover whether they are heading for double trouble.

Cut and pasted by

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), May 16, 1999

Answers

The last place any sane person should want to be when the Day happens is in a hospital. I'm a healthcare worker and even I don't plan on being there, even as an employee. Git, thanks for the post. I appreciate anything that informs, even when it pisses me off like this one did. I don't know, there's just something about inane glory-whores who'll do anything for that page 16 news blurb about them and their 'special' baby that pushes that big red button on me; the one that says 'Do Not Push'. A note to all spotlight seeking breeders out there: Unless you plan on flying out to Christmas Island off the coast of (Australia?), the only thing you can hope for is to have The Millenium Baby Of Your Time Zone as the dawn of the year 2000 will rise over that piece of land before any other on the planet. And then of course, there is that little snafu that the new millenium doesn't actually begin until 2001.

A.P. (who plans on being at the Kwik-E-Mart buying the first slushy of the new millenium)

-- A.P. (grim2k@hotmail.com), May 16, 1999.

Very interesting Old Git.

A.P. I agree with you. There is nothing sillier than trying for a Millenium baby. Some people will do anything to get in the limelight. It's a shame their concern isn't directed more to the welfare of the baby, than to their ego trip. With health care facilities hardly up to y2k snuff, it's a risky business. But the world abounds with fools.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), May 16, 1999.