Get the answers to frequently asked questions about pregnancy with twins and multiples. Have a question that isn't answered here? Ask me.
I think I'm having twins, but the ultrasound only shows one baby. Can there be a hidden twin?
Nearly every pregnant woman considers the possiblity that she may be carrying more than one baby. Whether it is due to suspicious signs or symptoms or just a hunch, the thought crosses everyone's minds.
The only way to confirm a twin or multiple pregnancy is by visually identifying the multiple fetuses with ultrasound. If your doctor or caregiver can only see one baby, you're not having twins or multiples.
There are some very rare exceptions. Ultrasound provides a picture of the womb, but sometimes the picture can be misleading or misinterpreted, particularly if performed very early in the pregnancy or by an incompetent technician. After twenty weeks, a second fetus would be clearly visible on ultrasound, and the likelihood that there is another baby hidden in the womb is extremely miniscule.
Chances are, you are not having twins if there is no evidence of multiples on ultrasound. However, there are some rare exceptions, particularly when the ultrasound is performed in the first two months of pregnancy. For example, my first ultrasound, taken at seven weeks' gestation, clearly revealed one distinct embryo. Yet, my twenty week ultrasound clearly revealed two heads, four arms and four legs. Did another baby materialize along the way? No, not at all. Instead, the two-dimensional perspective of the first scan only caught a glimpse of one embryo. The other was shadowed - positioned directly behind the other -- and not visible from the view of the ultrasound tool, almost like an eclipse. This is likely because the girls were monochorionic, or contained in a single chorion (sac). Becasue they were positioned so closely together, their shadowed position could not be detected in a quick scan.
However, as I mentioned, there was no mistaking the presence of twins at my second ultrasound, at twenty weeks' gestation. Ultrasound performed later in the pregancny is not likely to overlook a second fetus, or hidden twin. If you remain concerned that you are having undetected multiples, please discuss the issue further with your doctor or medical provider.
