First Year Expenses With Twins: The Inside Scoop from Twin Parents

Want to hear the honest reality about first year expenses with twins? See what other twin parents spent on diapers, formula, twin delivery, and more!

Finding out you’re having twins can be an exciting (albeit overwhelming time). Once the reality sets in, you may begin to worry about the financial realities of raising two at once, especially in the first year. 

That’s why we called on other twin parents from around the world to give us the inside scoop on what they spent on common first year expenses with twins. Think: twin delivery costs, formula, diapers, and unexpected expenses.

We hope this makes you feel less alone and gives you an honest glimpse into expenses you will want to prepare for (as best you can).

And if you’re still in the process of building your twin baby registry, be sure to check out our twin registry resources and our next Twin Ready Registry Event. 

How much did your twin delivery cost?

“Emergency C-section + 6 weeks in the NICU = $0” – Mai-Lynn, from Canada

“It was somewhere between $500,000-$600,000 for their combined NICU stay (51 days for twin A and 50 days for twin B). Plus the delivery and everything that went along with that. It cost our complete out-of-pocket maximum of $18,000.” — Melinda, from Missouri 2024)

“How much did it cost or how much did I pay? Big difference for us here in the US. I tracked the actual full cost but since I had insurance I did not pay that much. The actual full cost for ambulance ride, labor, delivery, and 3 weeks of NICU stay was $280,000 USD.” – Adinda

“Canada was free! I was hospitalized for 68 days and gave birth and my twins stayed in NICU for 28. I didn’t even pay parking. They gave my family passes where I was staying for so long.” — Alex, from Canada

“After in hospital bed rest, a delivery under anesthesia, and bumpy NICU stay…almost $1M. I saved the bills for my girls’ baby book. Thank goodness for an amazing employer and incredible insurance at the time! I fully realize how beyond blessed I was in my situation.” – Hillary

“Our insurance wouldn’t cover homebirth so $4000 out of pocket for 3 person midwife team. Still cheaper than our singleton in a hospital though!” – Marisa

“My sanity! No, jokes aside, my planned c-section was free. Thank you NHS!” – Claire

“For my stay (including 6 weeks antepartum bedrest) and a c-section, about $250k. For the twins in the NICU, one was $1.2 million, the other $1.7 million. Luckily insurance was $4k out of pocket max for the family and I had already hit that prior from MFM visits.” – Cortney

“My premature twins were my million dollar babies in 1994, my term twins were 3K in 2004.” – Tina

“Emergency C-section @32 weeks + 5 days in-patient private recovery + 29 days in the NICU… insurance was billed $11 million (yes, eleven)….. we paid $5k.” – Rowan

“We called them million dollar babies. Luckily we only had to pay our deductible.” – Jacobs Twins

“Zero (well technically only parking) – 5 day stay in nicu and monitoring for me.” – Megan, from Canada

“With NICU cost, close to a million. Thank goodness for being dual insured! Only ended up paying around 3k out of pocket.” – Tonya

“Insurance was billed about $110,000. We owed $7,000 after insurance. C-section, no NICU, only 1 extra night stay.” – Taylor

“13k with insurance. Scheduled c section, no NICU time.” – Xandra

“$2500. Homebirth with midwives who were long time friends. Would have been free if my insurance covered it.” – Jillette

“Insurance was billed for almost $800k, I think we paid $3k out of pocket.” – Arika

“Out of pocket max was $8k. I think they billed close to $150k.” – Ashley

“In Spain I didn’t pay a thing. I had an emergency C-section because I had severe eclampsia, and then we were hospitalized for a week (I had kidney problems). So long live public healthcare!” — Florina

“I had my twins in the U.K. All my medical was under my visa. I’m Australian though so if I’d had my girls in Australia, I wouldn’t have paid either unless I’d chosen to have them in a private hospital (using our private health insurance).” – Talitha

“0. In Denmark, we dont pay to go to the doctor or hospital. We have high taxes instead.” – Mette

“Nothing, here at S.A Baragwana hospital where I was admitted. Tuesday, having government food from morning to evening, Saturday morning I gave birth ,using all the babies things there for free,and Monday I was discharged.” – Rirhandzu

“Around $200 including C-section and 9 days in NICU. We live in Dubai and the healthcare is amazing (we are not even citizens!).” – Nadia

“UK here, I spent about £15 for hire of the tv to the side of my bed, I was in hospital over 9 nights due to blood pressure, the girls were born 5 days in and spent 14 days in Special Care as they were born at 35+1. God bless the NHS!!” – Alexandra

“U.S. Illinois 2017, 3 days NICU, emergency c-section, 5 total days in hospital for preeclampsia, $100,000 USD, out-of-pocket $750. HMO.” – Colleen

“$6500 cash price at the hospital for twin c section which included everything except anesthesia which was about $2000 if I remember correctly. We had a Medishare at the time so all of that was reimbursed to us.” – Madison

“If memory serves, our out-of-pocket expense was around 1K, but total cost for my twins ran about $500K (and I have the insurance paperwork/breakdown….from 29 years ago).” – Julie

“7 weeks stay in private room in L&D, emergency c-section @ 32 weeks, 4 & 7 weeks NICU and for me 4 days post delivery – 1.2 million dollars but thankfully only paid close to 2k in costs.” – Nathalie

Want to see even more responses to How much did your twin delivery cost? Check out the original Facebook post and the original Instagram post!

How much did you spend on diapers during your first year with twins?

“It’ll be about $2400 by the time they’re one later this month.” – Staycie

“Around 100€ for 2.5 month old twins.” – Bianca

“Thanks to the amazing diaper raffle, we bought a few packages of preemie and newborns in the first 3 months, then nothing until after their first birthday! Diaper raffle is a game changer! Forget clothes, send me diapers please!!” – Melanie

“We’re doing cloth with our boys but they had to be 10 lbs before we could use them. Pretty sure in that time it was at least $2,000. Our lot of cloth probably cost $400.” – Shelby

“I don’t know but rule of thumb always buy on sale. We had a diaper shower. And always did the deals on Amazon, delivery and target! Coupons were a lifesaver too. I always had about three boxes of each size and bought more or exchanged unopened boxes. I never really had to go out and buy when we were low. Follow tiktok coupon and sale people to give you the best deals.” – Gaby

“2 economy packs, $80-90 a month. So about $1000. Not including wipes, another $350 or so there.” – Haley

“I did cloth, we only used disposable in an emergency for example if it rained for 5 days in a row amd the cloth couldn’t dry. I think we went through 8 jumbo packs in 3 years. And some of those were because I just used them just to finish them before they were too small. Cloth was awesome!” – Cynthia

Want to see even more responses to How much did you spend on diapers your first year with twins? Check out the original Facebook post and the original Instagram post!

How much did you spend on formula for the first year with twins?

“$1,000 on a normal month, prepping for Europe $2,000 a month.” – Angie

“About $800, but I did exclusively breastfeed for the first 7 months and then have been combo feeding for a couple months after that.” – Mackenzie

“$60. We bought a couple cans because we had to have high calorie formula and we didnt know how long it would take for the paperwork to go through WIC.” – Katrina

“Tried to breastfeed but never produced enough. Used some donor milk as well. Still went through 1 can every 2-3 days for the first year. A lot in the early days because we had to bulk their formula per the pediatricians’ recommendation. This was 2017 and their formula was $30-$35 a can… so ballpark $4,000.” – Melissa

“My daughters twins were on Elacare @ 49$ a can, it was the only formula they could drink, they had a milk allergy. I believe it was about 1200 a month.” – Leasie

“Didn’t spend anything since they were supplied by WIC.

We didn’t know this, but for those who had babies in the NICU, there’s a good chance they qualify for WIC regardless of the parent’s income. I’m sure this depends on the state, but definitely ask the hospital’s social worker about it. Not only do you get formula covered but you also get some food supplemented as well if you are doing any breastfeeding.” – Catherine

“About $7000.” – Danielle

“About $13,500 for the year.” – Jennifer

“5,600.” — Rebecca

“10 years ago now. 3 cans a week at £10 a can = £1560. Hopes to breastfeed but wasn’t possible due to PPH and life support.” – Corinne

“We are going through two cans every eight days and its a specialist formula so at A$47 a can it’s nearly A$100 a week.” – Catherine

“My twins are almost 6 months old and so far we have spent around $750 on formula… thanks for bringing this to my attention.” – Tanya

“Basically $0. I don’t know how but I took the twins to the pediatrician and she gave me a phone number to call and every month a box of like 20 cans of formula showed up on my doorstep. Somehow insurance paid for it every month until they turned one.” – Jen

“3 cans a week at $20 per can, $60 per week x52 weeks = $3120.” — Diana

“Around 3,500 or so. I combination fed the first 4.5 month which helped.” – Keeley

“0 they were on prescribed formula due to being prem and were from the UK so don’t pay for child prescriptions.” – Jaime-Leigh

“wins still under 1, but definitely at least 2,100 so far and probably will be up to 3,500-4,000 by the time they turn 1.” – Airinta

Want to see even more responses to How much did you spend on formula your first year with twins? Check out the original Facebook post and the original Instagram post!

What were unexpected expenses you ran into during your twins’ first 0 – 3 years?

“The amount of coffee I’d have to buy while walking them in order to keep walking. In order for them to nap.” – Katherine

“One of my babies had plagiocephaly due to being squished in the womb. We ended up getting a helmet for him which was not a price we were expecting.” – Shelby

“Helmets to fix their flat heads x 2.” – Marcy

“£250 each for a tongue tie assessment & division, and £495 for a sleep consultant 🤣 they are only 8 months so I’m sure there will be many more unexpected expenses.” – Charlotte

“Fruit lol.” – Colleen

“Childcare. You’re limited on options (finding a space with TWO simultaneous openings means you probably won’t get your first choice) plus there are two of them all at once.” – Cortney

“Having to buy multivitamins with iron because they were preemies and didn’t get enough from me. Not cheap! GelMix, because one aspirates and the both have reflux. Also not cheap.” – Alexandra

“The upgraded car for two car seats, the mummy MOT is pricey, the more obvious but still crippling double pram, cots x2, bouncers x2, formula & my food bill with breastfeeding!” – Fabienne

“Their NICU stay, co-pays for extra follow ups with specialists, physical therapy, etc., helmets that they are needing now. The amount of formula and diapers they go through. When they were sick-going through so much cough medicine.” – Kelsey

“Formula for expense, but the big thing I didn’t expect was how many parent/baby programs I couldn’t participate in because they only allowed one adult per baby.” – Cheryl

“Childcare, heating/electricity as so skinny needed their rooms warm.” – Hannah

“We had to buy special sensitive stomach formula for one twin which was not expensive.” – Maridelle

“The main thing was formula” – Tracey

“Our NICU stay, having to get a hotel for multiple days to be near our babies. Cost of formula. And two of everything.” – Bre Anne

“how much formula we would go through!” – Crystal

“Gas drops and gripe water.” – Melissa

“The expense with the diaper rash..we went to the doc so much and all the creams.” – Lori

Want to see even more responses to What were the unexpected expenses for the first 0 – 3 years with twins? Check out the original Facebook post and the original Instagram post!

Final Thoughts on First Year Expenses with Twins

Of course, every twin family’s situation is different, and for some expenses, it will depend on where in the world you live and give birth to your dynamic duo. But we hope this article gives you a better idea of some of those major financial costs for the first year!

If you want more guidance on budgeting for life with twins, click here to see our next live Affording Your Future With Twins class!

Want to see more resources about your first year with twins and finances for twins? Check out these articles too!

• The True “Costs” of Raising Twins
• Biggest Twin Registry Fails: Twin Parents Tell All
• Childcare Costs for Twins
• Your First Year with Twins: Advice from Experienced Twin Parents

Latest Twiniversity Articles