{"id":339259,"date":"2026-03-20T14:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T14:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/339259\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T14:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T14:22:15","slug":"twin-boom-otumoetai-primary-school-set-to-welcome-14th-set-of-twins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/339259\/","title":{"rendered":"Twin boom: Ot\u016bmoetai Primary School set to welcome 14th set of twins"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Year 4 alone, there are seven sets of twins among the about 100 students.<\/p>\n

With fewer than 550 Year 0-6 students in 23 classrooms, the school\u2019s proportion of twins is well above the global average.<\/p>\n

McIndoe said she was not sure why her school had so many twins, but it could reflect a wider trend towards multiples becoming more common.<\/p>\n

A 2021 Oxford University study found the rate of twins increased by a third over 40 years, with about 2.4% of babies born worldwide now being twins. <\/p>\n

This was put down to a rise in fertility treatments and households delaying having children.<\/p>\n

Health New Zealand says about 1000 New Zealand wh\u0101nau a year experience a multiple pregnancy. <\/p>\n

McIndoe said the school\u2019s small size made it easy for twins to be recognised as individuals rather than getting lost in a crowd.<\/p>\n

Still, the sheer number of lookalikes could lead to the occasional mix\u2011up.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne teacher told a boy, \u2018Don\u2019t forget swimming after lunch\u2019, and he said, \u2018I\u2019m not Logan\u2019. She didn\u2019t realise he had a twin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff quickly learned to recognise each twin as an individual, with their distinct personalities making it easy to tell them apart.<\/p>\n

She said the recent spotlight on twins had even changed a few minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the boys weren\u2019t that keen on being twins, but now that it\u2019s been brought to their attention, they quite like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the twins themselves, having a built\u2011in buddy brings plenty of fun. <\/p>\n

Carter Beer, whose twin is Logan, said they enjoyed confusing teachers. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes me and my brother trick our teachers at our old school by wearing the same clothes.\u201d <\/p>\n

For twins Paige and Sophia Rudnicki, the best part has always been having someone to play with.<\/p>\n

The students are quick to point out the little things that set them apart from their siblings. <\/p>\n

Some mentioned distinctions such as being the taller, older or faster twin, while others noted small physical features, such as a spot on the nose.<\/p>\n

For Beau and Jonty, being twins meant always having an opponent ready for football battles.<\/p>\n

\" From left: Ot\u016bmoetai Primary School twins Havana and Stella Rasmussen, and Paige and Sophia Rudnicki. Photo \/ Zoe Blake<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s twin tally will soon grow again, with Chris and Hayley Bath\u2019s sons starting next term. <\/p>\n

The Hits Days with Hayley radio host Hayley Bath said she was surprised to learn her boys would be the 14th set of twins on the roll.<\/p>\n

Just turning 5 last week, the fraternal twins shared many similarities, but their personalities were far from identical. <\/p>\n

Bath said one was noticeably more outgoing and energetic, while the other was quieter and more laid\u2011back, yet often the more quietly confident.<\/p>\n

She said the balance between them worked well.<\/p>\n

Even though her boys are fraternal, they still experienced the classic twin mix\u2011ups. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had their professional daycare photos come back with the same twin photographed under different names.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bath said life with twins brought a special kind of energy to a home.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwins instantly create this energy of fullness and family in a household.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all go, all the time, but the feeling of love and togetherness is amazing. There\u2019s just more of everything in the best way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is more likely to have a multiple pregnancy<\/p>\n

Things that could result in a multiple pregnancy include if you:<\/p>\n

are older \u2014 if you are in your 30s, you have a higher chance of a multiple birth because your body starts to release multiple eggs as you get olderare a twin yourself, or have twins in your wh\u0101nau\u00a0are having fertility treatment, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF)are taller than average, or have a higher body weight.<\/p>\n

Zoe Blake is a journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Year 4 alone, there are seven sets of twins among the about 100 students. With fewer than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[33036,16424,8609,111,43,139,69,1118,181529,6177,13491,9979,4062,8601,1551,5662,61,1847,1850,1845,6438],"class_list":["post-339259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-14th","tag-boom","tag-double","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-otmoetai","tag-primary","tag-probably","tag-right","tag-school","tag-seeing","tag-set","tag-think","tag-to","tag-twin","tag-twins","tag-welcome","tag-youre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}