Page 53 - Abilene Living

there have been many local families discovering that they are expecting not one, but two babies…TWINS! Abilene is not the only area to experience an increase in double births. West Africa has the highest rate of fraternal twins in the world. There are over four times as many twin births in West Africa compared to North America. The village of Igbo-Ora, Nigeria specifcally is often referred to as the land of twins . There is hardly a family without a set. The unusually high number of dual births has led fertility experts to believe the areas consumption of agida, otherwise known as yams, to be the cause. Yams contain a natural hormone called phytoestrogen which may stimulate the ovaries to produce an egg from each side. I am not sure if yams have been selling out at the local grocery stores, but something is defnitely in the water here in Abilene!

As an expecting mother myself, the news of twins would have been one of great surprise to say the least. That is exactly how frst time parents, Aaron and Jessica Kirkland and Jonathon and Amber Ponder of Abilene felt when they heard the news that there were not one, but two heartbeats. Both families do have twins distantly in their family, but neither ever imagined themselves as the proud parents of two. The reaction both couples described upon hearing the news was “Shock!” They are not sure what to expect, but will fnd out soon enough. The Kirklands will welcome fraternal twins, boy, Samuel, and girl, Maisy, this coming September a month after the Ponders greet baby girls, Presley and Paige.

Marshall and Melanie Morris discovered they were expecting twins at their twelve week appointment. The Morris’ already had a twelve-month-old daughter, Laney, so the news that two more were on their way was exciting. The Morris’ are both from Abilene; Melanie graduated from Wylie and now teaches math at WHS, while Marshall attended Cooper and works for First Financial Bank. The high school sweethearts returned home after graduating from Texas A&M because, “We think Abilene is a perfect place to raise a