Simon Cowell seems to be everywhere these days, running successful businesses, judging successful shows, and being a full-time dad to six-year-old son Eric. It’s almost as if there are two Simon Cowells to be able to get everything done. Is Simon Cowell a Twin?
Simon Cowell has one full-blooded sibling and that is a younger brother, Nicholas – but he is not Simon’s twin. They had another sibling who passed away at two weeks old. In addition, Simon and Nicholas have three half-brothers and a half-sister.
Simon doesn’t have a twin helping him with his conglomerate, and neither are his other family members. Half-brother Tony is an accomplished author and brother Nicholas is a successful realtor, owning his own business.
Multiples Birth Statistics
Multiples birth rates have risen in the past couple of decades, but are now starting to level off. Multiples meaning two or more babies born at the same time. The average rate of twins is between 3-4% in most countries, with some areas having lower rates.
Brazil has an average twin birth date of 1%, but the town of Candido Godoi has an average twin birth rate of 8%! The area is known as the Twin Capital of the world. Baldwinsville, NY is another area where the twin rate is higher than average, and in one graduating class, there were twelve sets of twins.
In Vitro Fertilization
The dramatic rise of twins in the eighties is the same reason for the beginning of the decline today. In vitro fertilization is the process of placing fertilized eggs into a woman’s uterus, in hopes of having a viable one stick, resulting in a live birth.
When IVF was first popular, multiple fertilized eggs were transferred at one time to increase the chances of being able to carry a baby full term. Since then, technology has advanced more, as has scientific knowledge, and now in many cases, only one embryo is being transferred at a time, reducing the number of multiple births.
Interesting Twin Facts
In vitro fertilization isn’t the only way for a woman to deliver multiple babies at once, it is entirely possible for females to get pregnant with different kinds of multiples naturally. And sometimes the natural pregnancies result in the most interesting ones.
There have been cases of twins being born having two different fathers, or having the same two parents but being born different races. Some cases of twins will have one born with a chromosome deficiency, causing something such as dwarfism, while the other twin does not have the same condition.
Most Births at Once
There have been two recorded births of octuplets, but only one case of the babies surviving. Nadya Suleman gave birth in 2009 9 weeks early but all eight of her babies have survived. She holds the record for most births at once at Guinness World Records. I’m sure that’s a record that not too many women are out there trying to beat.
Celebrities with Twins
Most people know of the Olsen twins and some may know of the Sprouse twins, but there are other celebrities that have twins who many may not even know about.
- Scarlett Johansson – She has a twin brother, Hunter
- Kiefer Sutherland – Has a twin sister, Rachel
- Ashton Kutcher – Fraternal twin brother, Michael has cerebral palsy and is a spokesperson for Reaching for the Stars
- Gisele Bundchen – Fraternal twin sister, Patricia acts as her manager and public relations manager
- Giovanni Ribisi – Twin sister Marissa is an actress and married to Beck
- Jon Heder – Has an identical twin brother
- Isabella Rossellini – Has a fraternal sister, Isota Ingrid, who is a professor
- Jill Hennessy – Twin sister, Jaqueline, is also in the television industry
- Alanis Morissette – Has a twin brother Wade
- Vin Diesel – Has a twin brother, Paul, who is a film editor
Cowell Success
Simon Cowell may not be a twin, but the success gene seems to run in the Cowell family none the less. In addition, his father Eric’s genes also seem to be strong, as Simon and Nicholas also look like their half-siblings, who resulted in two other marriages.