Twin-Town: An Unusually High Incidence of Twin Births

In the small Indian village of Kodinhi in Kerala, there's approximately 250 sets of twins.

Experts are baffled over the phenomenon that's seen almost six times as many twins born than the global average.

A local doctor Dr Krishnan Sribiju has been studying the medical mystery of Kodinhi for years.

In Dr Sribiju's opinion, whatever's causing this high incidence of twinning should be bottled to provide help for infertile couples.

He goes on to say "without access to detailed biochemical analysis equipment I cannot say for certain what the reason for the twinning is, but I feel that it is something to do with what the villagers eat and drink."

With the majority of twins in Kodinhi being of the identical kind and the fact that a large percentage are under the age of twenty, a lot of the youngsters trick the adults.

Shahana & Shahala:

"We always find the teachers mix us up," said five-year-old Shahala, who attends the local primary school in Kodinhi.

"Sometimes when we are feeling naughty we try to swap classes to confuse people" said sister Shahana.

Shahala & Shahana are the little girls sitting on the steps, bottom left.