The Island Where Twins Are Born at an Unbelievable Rate

Something strange is happening in one small village—so many twins are born there, scientists are baffled.

In the tiny village of Kodinhi, in Kerala, India, an extraordinary phenomenon occurs: it has one of the highest twinning rates in the world. With just over 2,000 families, the village has produced more than 400 pairs of twins—an incredibly high rate compared to the global average. The cause remains a mystery. Unlike other high-twin regions where diet or IVF plays a role, Kodinhi has no obvious factors. Even stranger, women from outside the village who marry into it often start having twins too—suggesting something environmental might be at work.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in any rural population anywhere.”

~ Dr. Krishnan Sribiju, medical researcher who studied Kodinhi

“It defies all standard genetic and dietary explanations we usually consider.”

~ Dr. Isabelle Bouchard, geneticist, Twins and Multiple Births Association

“It’s one of the most puzzling concentrations of twins we’ve ever recorded.”

~ Dr. John Hall, anthropologist at Oxford University

“There is a local saying now—if you move to Kodinhi, prepare for double trouble.”

~ Local nurse speaking to The Hindu

“When we walk to school, it’s like looking into a mirror every few steps.”

~ Meera Salim, teenage twin from Kodinhi

Knock-on effect: The case of Kodinhi has triggered twin studies in other unexpected regions, like Igbo-Ora in Nigeria, another hotspot for twin births. These places are now global research centers for investigating the role of environment and microbiomes in human reproduction—possibly rewriting what we know about fertility.