For these sisters, twins come in pairs

Monday, August 21, 2006 The new moms of twins gave some credit to the sweet potatoes. By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR. VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF LIBERTY — Pat Ungaro is used to the difficulties of city and township government, but is only now realizing how challenging four squirming, newborn grandchildren at once can be. The former mayor of Youngstown and current Liberty Township administrator and his wife, Theresa, have a tradition of spending Sundays with their children and grandchildren, Now, with two new sets of twins, those Sunday visits are just a little louder. "We have somewhat of a choir going on here," said Theresa Ungaro. The couple's oldest daughter, Candice Jones, gave birth to twin boys March 11. She and her husband, Jim, live in Liberty. Her sister, Renee Garano, gave birth to a boy-girl set of twins eight weeks later. She and her husband, Anthony, also live in the township. Pat Ungaro, however, said he is up for the challenge. "This is a blessing, to say the least. I am just getting used to it; it's so overwhelming," he said. The Ungaros also have two sons and four other grandchildren. Jones has an older daughter. Garano had no children before the twins. Pat Ungaro said that as far as the Jones and Garano families know, twins also do not run in their families. According to family members, twins do not run in the Ungaro family, so Garano and Jones were at a loss in explaining how they both gave birth to twins within eight weeks of each other. Interesting note Then, Jones said, the family learned of an area in Nigeria where a high rate of twin births is somehow linked to consumption of sweet potatoes. "We like sweet potatoes, and we eat a lot of them, so we always say it must have been the potatoes," said Jones. "We were eating [the potatoes] about three days a week." Whatever the explanation for the double dose of joy, each woman says she is happy to have the support of a sister while caring for the children. "We almost have the same energy going on with each other. We each know what the other is going through — the hardships and blessing of having twins," Jones said. "When I had my first daughter, I really didn't have anybody to talk to, but now I have my sister, who is my best friend." jgoodwin@vindy.com