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More twins born in tony suburban areas

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The high number of U.S. twins born in wealthy suburbs is based on older mothers and couples with money for expensive treatments, a fertility expert says.

Dr. Bradford Bopp of Midwest Fertility Specialists in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel said he is not surprised several Indianapolis suburbs have high numbers of twins.

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Carmel High School has 17 sets of twins, while the Guinness World Record of 16 sets of twins in one high school is currently held by West Des Moines, Iowa; Park Ridge, Ill., near Chicago; and Westport, Conn., The Indianapolis Star reported.

He said the concentration of twins being born in tony suburban communities was much higher than those born in rural areas: for example, in 2010, the birth rate for mothers ages 35-39 was 55 per 1,000 births in Hamilton County; 48 per 1,000 in Boone County, but the smaller and more rural Morgan County, had a twin birth rate of 18.8 per 1,000 births, while the state of Indiana had a statewide average of 35 per 1,000, The Star reported.

Bopp said the suburban twin trend was a combination of women delaying child birth until their mid-to-late 30s and couples having the money to pay for infertility treatments costing $15,000 per treatment. Older mothers tend to have more twins, Bopp said.

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