Brynn Clarke remembers her husband blurting “you’re joking, right?” when, during her 12-week scan, the ultrasound tech told them they were having twins.
“And she said, ‘Oh, we don’t joke about that,’” said Clarke, whose fraternal boys are now seven.
The couple’s minds immediately went to the items they would need in duplicate. Two car seats. Two cribs. Twice as many diapers and wipes.
“We definitely were also thinking further down the line pretty early,” said Clarke, president of the Toronto Parents of Multiple Births Association.
How would they ever find two affordable daycare spots in downtown Toronto? How long before they outgrew their two-bedroom condo?
Lindsey Zunti, with the Edmonton Twin and Triplet Club, already had an 18-month-old daughter when she learned she was about to become a mom of three.
“I couldn’t even process it. I don’t remember the drive home,” she said.
“The first thought I had was ‘I’m gonna have to buy a new vehicle.’”
The vehicles she and her husband already had were running well, paid off and would have been great for one newborn and one toddler. But they wouldn’t have been able to accommodate two bucket seats and a convertible one.
“We were set,” said Zunti. “Now all of a sudden we are buying something for tens of thousands of dollars that we didn’t anticipate buying.”
At the time, there was a severe shortage of new vehicles on the market amid pandemic-era supply chain woes. Wait lists were too long for her family to get one in time, so they ended up snapping up a used Volkswagen Atlas at a premium.
At the same time expenses are racking up, the money coming in ends up being less than expected for many parents of multiples.
Such a pregnancy carries a higher risk of complications, like high blood pressure, than when carrying one child. That can mean having to halt work earlier than hoped, and relying on a fraction of your paycheque through government benefits for longer than you’d planned.
Parents of multiples are entitled to the same employment insurance benefits during their parental leave as families welcoming just one baby — 55 per cent of a parent’s income for up to 12 months and 33 per cent for up to 18 months, up to certain weekly maximums.
With multiples, it’s also more likely babies will be born preterm and require care in the neonatal intensive care unit. Parents are entitled to compassionate care leave during that time, so they don’t have to eat into their parental leave right away.
Hospital food and parking can be a fortune, but social workers in the NICU can often connect parents with passes and vouchers.
When the babies are ready to come home, it’s common for them to still need preemie-sized clothes and diapers, which are expensive, hard to find and quickly outgrown.
Manitoba Families of Multiples offers a “preemie closet,” said president Alison Allen, whose boy-girl twins — now five — were born at 32 weeks and spent about a month in the NICU.
“They’re usually gender neutral and you can borrow it as long as you need.”
Similar groups in other cities offer the same, and also have gear to loan and twice-yearly second-hand sales.
For many twin parents, feeding can be an exercise in extreme MacGyvering, patching together a combination of tandem nursing, round-the-clock pumping and formula.
There are specialty nursing pillows like the TwinZ that can allow two babies to be breast- or bottle-fed simultaneously. One of those will set you back about $300 on Amazon, but they can often be lent out by multiples groups or found second-hand.
Being able to breastfeed at all can be challenging with the medical issues that often arise with multiple births.
Breast pumps and the dizzying array of required components can be an unexpected cost. You might have to purchase several different bottles and nipples until you find something your babies don’t hate.
Formula for two can be hundreds of dollars a month. To boot, Health Canada recommends that infants born prematurely or at a low birth weight use sterile liquid formulas — pricier than powders — if available.
“Watching for deals was a big thing,” said Allen. When her twins were ready for the powder formula, the Kirkland brand at Costco was a clear winner when it came to quality and cost. She would also take advantage of coupons and rebates.
A recurring joke among many twin families is the obscene number of double strollers they end up collecting. There’s the standard workhorse that needs various adapters, sold separately and not cheaply, so two bucket seats can click in. Then there’s the sporty three-wheeler for the snow. And a hefty wagon for zoo trips. And a light umbrella stroller when you’re not up for hauling the massive wagon in and out of your trunk.
“Just think about your lifestyle,” Clarke advised. “It depends on your situation, where you live and what your environment is like and how often you think you’ll get out.”
Clarke said she took a “very minimalist” approach to other baby gear, not just for financial reasons but because of space limitations. Bouncers were great for parking the kids, but she took a pass on swings. Several relatives pitched in to buy a pricey swivelling Halo bassinet made especially for twins as a baby shower gift, but she said it wasn’t a must-have.
Allen said it’s not necessary to automatically buy two of every piece of baby gear. If you have one bouncer and one jolly jumper, the twins can rotate.
Pricier doesn’t mean better, Zunti said. Her kids loathed the fancy $450 baby swing, but adored a decades-old hand-cranked one lent by a friend.
“We all think when we have our first baby that we need the best-of-the-best things,” said Zunti.
“There is a $1,000 bucket car seat, but it is up against the same safety standard as the $200 one at Canadian Tire. You don’t have to buy the most expensive to be the most safe.”
Both financially and emotionally, parents of multiples benefit from finding their village, said Clarke. She said the $42 yearly membership fee for the Toronto association has paid off on both fronts.
But any way parents of multiples can share war stories and hand-me-downs is worthwhile.
“There’s so much involved with having kids in general,” Clarke said. “But multiples is definitely a whole other ball of wax.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2025.
