It’s perfectly possible to know about the gender of the kids quite soon if you do a chorionic biopsy (which is done to check abnormalities in the foetus); I think you can have the results earlier than week 12.

It isn’t true to say the fertility clinics won’t do IVF with a woman’s own eggs after the age of 40: there is tremendous variation in terms of policies amongst fertility clinics, as well as from one country to the next.

Yes, womens’ fertility declines with age: however, it is still perfectly possible for women to conceive naturally, all the way until she is out of menopause. My mother was friends with a woman in the 1960s who conceived twins at the age of 52. Rare? Yes. Impossible? No.

It irritates me to read the rampant speculation regarding Julia’s possible utilization of fertility treatments. We don’t know for certain, and can’t know for certain unless she confirms or denies it.

IVF doesn’t mean you know the sex of the embryo(s) prior to transfer: for that you have to do PGD (pre-implantaion genetic diagnosis). According to research, this is available, but not often chosen unless a couple/woman has a family history of genetic illness they/she wants to screen for.

Again, the rumor is that Julia was announcing the babies’ sexes at 9wks: does anyone have a news link with direct quotes from her? Or is this just another rumor?

Yaosa, Geena Davis and Holly Hunter have both been suspected of using IVF with Donor Eggs. Infertility clinics will not use a woman’s own eggs past the age of 40, because they are just not viable. Your odds of achieving pregnancy with IVF and your own eggs at that age are extremely low. Marcia Cross has publicly confirmed that, when she admitted that she is doing IVF with Donor Eggs due to her age (44). Wendy Wasserstein also confirmed that when she wrote about the IVF with Donor Egg treatments she did to conceive her daughter, Lucy, when she was 48. So, it is more likely than not that women having twins at nearly 50 + are using donor eggs. That a woman’s fertility declines with age is not just an urban legend or an old wives’ tale. IVF especially with donor eggs has enabled many women to give birth past the age at which they would’ve normally been able to conceive, in addition to helping couples of all ages conceive in spite of their infertility issues.

Twins usually skip a generation and not all siblings pass the gene along. Also, fraternal twins is not necessarily a genetic occurrence, so that Julia’s siblings don’t have twins doesn’t mean that she couldn’t have them.

I think she was blessed with her beautiful twins and I wish her all the best with her third baby!

Does anyone remember Geena Davis having twin boys at 47 after the birth of her first child (daughter) at 45 ? And look at Holly Hunter who just had twins ? Are they all IVF ? Are people always assuming that if a woman has twins after the age of 35 that she had fertility treatment ?

I didn’t know that with IVF you can tell the baby’s sex at such an early age.

It certainly would seem that perhaps Julia and Danny did conceive via IVF. I know it’s their personal business, and they don’t owe it to anyone to tell, but I agree with PSB’s comment – being forthcoming with such details can help other couples.

Anyway, thanks for the additional info. 8)

Knowing people that have struggled with infertility in their 20′s as well as their 30′s, I find it’s a wee bit difficult to continue to believe that all these celebrities having twins (and high order multiples) at what doctors consider to be Advanced Maternal Age are all natural conceptions.

Julia did mention that her grandmother or great-grandmother was a twin. But only after it had been hinted that she’d used IVF. Plus, that’s a fair distance removed in generations from having twin siblings or being a twin oneself.

Neither Julia’s brother nor her sister has twins. None of Danny’s four siblings has twins, either. So, I’m not sure exactly where the “twins run in the family” in that family tree.

Again, though, I’m very happy for Julia & Danny and wish them all the best with this new baby on the way

GargoyleGirl – What Christina said is where the rumor came from. Julia announced the sexes of the twins when she was 9 weeks along – something she would know after having the testing that goes along with fertility treatments. So that’s how it all started. Julia has not ever mentioned anything.

Julia always said that twins ran in her family, so I don’t know if she really used IVF last time. Plus, a woman has a greater chance of conceiving twins after the age of 35.

Christina – this is correct. there had been rumors of sighting of Julia at a fertility clinic. I remember when she announced she was having twins and then told the press “twins run in my family” – people who did IVF were annoyed because her denial made it out to be something shameful. I think a bunch of people who knew she had used fertility treatments “outed” her after that. I guess we don’t know for sure unless Julia admits it – and it is her own business – but I personally would have more respect for her if she did admit it. A LOT of people I know have had trouble, and I think it gives people hope and makes them feel less alone when somebody famous unites in their cause (like Angela Basset or Marcia Cross).

Some celebrities are patients of the same infertility specialists at the same infertility clinics as “regular” folks. Couples don’t hang around in infertility clinics if they’re conceiving on their own…