Leaving Monday
Loathe as I am to break my blog silence only to respond to the claims of a certain recent tabloid staple, there appears to be no evidence whatsoever that parents of multiples divorce at higher rates than parents of singletons. A 2003 study in Denmark found that 7.3 percent of parents of IVF/ICSI twins, 6.9 percent of parents of IVF/ICSI singletons, and 13.3 percent of parents of non-IVF/ICSI twins had divorced or separated four years after the birth of their child(ren). Having twins wasn't predictive of divorce; not having endured IVF/ICSI, or being over age 30, was. A 2002 study in Sweden found that "The influence of twins on the divorce risk appeared to fall between that of a first and a second singleton."
If there's any study of the divorce rates of British, US, Australian or Canadian parents of multiples, I can't find it.
There have certainly been divorces among the families who post on the Triplet Connection, but they don't seem to be happening at particularly high rates. There are divorced parents with triplet blogs, but not a large number.
Yes, there's a sample-selection bias at work, but eight years into parenting triplets, I have a strong sense that divorce is no more likely with multiples than with singletons. In fact, it may be lower, at least in the early years: most parents of multiples are too exhausted and overwhelmed to leave each other.
Other good news I stumbled upon while searching: a 2007 study in Britain found (in its admittedly minuscule sample of 10 triplet and 15 twin families) that "The birth of triplets or twins does appear to cause difficulties for parents in the early years [with no differences between mothers of triplets and mothers of twins], however, the children themselves do not seem to experience markedly raised levels of psychological or developmental problems."
Meanwhile, we're leaving Monday for our annual road trip up north. Any recommendations for books I could download to the absurdly fancy gadget my spouse gave me as a Mother's Day/birthday birthday present, so I could use it on the trip?
