I'm trying to remember the term for two (or more) babies born to the same mother 9-12 months apart. I think the term includes the word 'twins' even though they're not actually twins. Bonus points for the title and author of the SOL story in which I encountered it (although there may be more than one).
Thank you,
AJ
I've heard of 'Irish Twins'.
The Irish were very fertile and the woman would get pregnant very quickly after giving birth.
Two of my cousins are like that. Two boys with 10 months in between. Despite them being breast fed. So their mother was ovulating and got pregnant despite breast feeding.
The Irish were very fertile
Actually, it was used to poke fun at Irish Catholic immigrant families in the 1800s who didn't have access to birth control. And I think it was when the babies were born 12 months or less apart.
And I think it was when the babies were born 12 months or less apart.
I always thought it was when they were born in the same year, but that was only taken from context so it's likely not correct.
'Irish twins' was the answer I was failing to recall. (Thank you everyone who suggested it)
The top Google result says:
The term "Irish twins" refers to one mother having two children who were born 12 months or less apart. It originated in the 1800s as a way to poke fun at Irish Catholic immigrant families who didn't have access to birth control.
SOL has 33 stories containing 'irish twins', and the majority appear to use the idiomatic meaning. Michael Loucks, Jay Cantrell and aroslav all have two entries and even G Younger has one - all stories I'm likely to have read, although their definitions may have been widened to 15 months. So I don't know which story I remember it from :-(
AJ
