Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS) occurs in 36% of twin pregnancies – this is what you should know after the Love Island star spoke out
Reality star Olivia Bowen broke down in tears on Loose Women this week, as she opened up about her difficult pregnancy. The 31-year-old, who shot to fame on Love Island in 2016, was pregnant with twins before suffering from Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS).
As its name suggests, this condition takes place when one twin in a multiple pregnancy disappears, leaving a single embryo behind. It’s a type of miscarriage estimated to occur in 36% of twin pregnancies, with the affected baby absorbed by the surviving twin or the mother’s body.
“Something happened called Vanishing Twin Syndrome,” Olivia said in an emotional segment of the ITV show. “Sorry, I didn’t want to get upset at this bit because I want to get it factually correct, because it is so important.
“…And one of the babies just basically didn’t have a heartbeat, but I’d had no symptoms. I’d had no pain, no bleeding, absolutely nothing to tell me that [this] was what we were walking into. And, I guess from that moment, we were just completely floored.
“We were expecting to have these two little babies, but Vanishing Twin Syndrome, that is what happens. They can, as it says, literally just vanish.”
Olivia and her husband, Alex, found out they were pregnant with twins at the six-week mark before suffering from VTS at eight weeks. During that fortnight, they had started planning everything from bedroom arrangements to car seats, and were devastated to learn of their loss.
“I have twins in my family and as soon as we found it was twins I was already quite nervous,” Olivia explained. “Because we’ve not had a great history of twins in our family. But [Alex] you were so positive, weren’t you?”
Joining the conversation, Alex said: “When you find out that you’re having twins, you kind of like, all these emotions run through your mind and you’re like, ‘Oh my god, how am I going to, like, control another two on top of the one that we’ve got?’
“And then five minutes later I was kind of like, had these scenarios in my mind like, ‘I can’t wait to go on holiday and check in the back of the car, all three kids are playing’. And then yeah, unfortunately, that just got kind of taken away.”
Although Olivia experienced no symptoms of VTS, Cleveland Clinic suggests that light bleeding, cramps, and pain in both the back and pelvis can be a cause for concern. It is commonly caused by irregularities in one twin’s DNA, which hinder its development.
These irregularities are often present at conception and cannot be changed or controlled. “If the embryo disappears in the first trimester, neither you nor your surviving fetus will likely experience any complications,” the clinic explains.
“Your pregnancy will continue as usual…It’s possible to be pregnant with multiples and to miscarry one or more of the embryos before your first pregnancy ultrasound. In this case, neither you nor your provider will know you were pregnant with twins or triplets.”
Olivia and Alex, parents to two-year-old Abel Jacob, are expecting their second child this summer. While the experience has been a ‘rollercoaster of emotions’, Olivia said there is one positive thing she holds on to.
“The one beautiful part of it that I try to hold on to is that they do absorb into your body,” she said. “So, they just gradually go back into your body.
“Those cells become a part of you, and that’s what we’ve sort of been holding on to. But throughout all of this, you know, we’ve got a really healthy little baby in there, that we are so excited to meet.
“But it was just that bittersweet rollercoaster of emotions that I never expected. And I know miscarriages are common – one in four – but this for twin pregnancies, triplet pregnancies, it’s up to 35%. It’s a big number.”
