I'm an identical twin and I have identical twins, AMA

[Sunnidaze]

Exactly that really. I don't know, maybe it's not very exciting, but AMA if you're interested.

Twin boys 💙

They tell me there's no genetic factor for identical twins but I also know so many people who had ID twins who had fraternal twin siblings so there's got to be something in it!

Can your children and your sister's children tell you and your twin apart? Do they ever go to the wrong mum?

Hi OP. How did you tell your twins apart when they were newborns?

Fraternal twins occur when the mother releases more than one egg in a cycle. Hyper ovulating can be genetically related, but we also tend to release more than one egg in a cycle the older we get (it's the body's desperate attempt to get pregnant as fertility starts to decline). I've always been told that there's no genetic link for identical twinning, it's just a random thing. Of course, there may be a link that hasn't been determined yet. Stats for fraternal twinning are a little skewed by IVF, but around 1 in every 250 live births is a set of ID twins. So ID twins who go on to have fraternal twins, or fraternal twins who go on to have ID twins are probably just a statistical thing. Very cool nonetheless!

Have you been asked to participate in any clinical trials? I imagine twins are quite sought after.

That has just confirmed what I've always believed. It's said that identical twins are random but I don't think they are. They must run in families. I've got id twins and their grandad is an id twin. It's too much of a coincidence !

Did you or your twin have a twin language ?

Our children have never had a problem telling my sister an I apart, but my sister often gets my twins mixed up and she's the only person who ever refers to them as 'the twins'. I always thought she would be the one person (other than me!) who wouldn't mix them up, but she does! Her children think my boys look totally different, despite the vast majority of people not being able to tell them apart.

as in Mengele? !

Please don't feel bad. Mine are older now and I had a toddler first so I now how hard it is. It gets so much easier when they don't need feeding and changing. The bond they will have is priceless. They won't ever feel hard done by. They have a friend for life it's amazing !

I just thought they looked very different, even though no one else thought that. Some parents of twins paint a toenail of one so they can tell them apart. I just always knew. Sometimes we joke that we mixed them up at birth, but I know for sure that we didn't.

My sister and I have participated in several studies, my boys aren't old enough yet.

This is a great thread for a mum of twins! Mine are fraternal though so it’s a bit different but hearing of your relationship and how you love being a twin makes me so happy for them to have a twin as they grow up (they are 5 at the moment!)

No, it's just a numbers thing. Around 1 in every 250 live births is a set of ID twins. If each of those 251 people went on to have children, one of those births would be a set of ID twins. At some point that will happen that an ID twin has ID twins.

Not really, but a lot of things can go unsaid between us but we still communicate. Much like any really close people (we communicated with our mum without having to say anything, because we were really close to her!). Some twin studies have shown that there are three types of twins - totally enmeshed, partially enmeshed and not enmeshed. Totally enmeshed twins are so close that they see themselves as one unit and will often point to their twin in a photo when asked to point to themselves. Those twins are the ones that often develop their own language. I would describe my sister and I as partially enmeshed.

I think fraternal twins have just as lovely a relationship. Nothing beats sharing a womb!

Do your DC or you and your sister have the same dominant hand or is one of the pair right-handed and the other left-handed?

I've always been able to tell the difference between mine and was able to point out some slight differences to relatives/friends so they could work it out. Only now at six months are the people we see most often able to confidently say who is who. At the start I put them in certain colours and people who knew us well knew the pattern.

Agree with PP. This is a lovely thread for parents of twins to read. Thankyou OP.

We are mirror image twins - she's left handed, I'm right handed, we part our hair on opposite sides, our dominant side foot is bigger than the other side etc.

My DC are both right dominant.

What a lovely bond for you and your DS and your DC. My mum was a twin and they most definitely knew what each other was thinking. I never really believed this until I was out with my auntie and she said we have to get back as your mum needs me. I was 12 at the time and was confused. When we got back mum was on the floor in agony. She has fell from her kitchen step and broke her ankle.
Has this happened to you at all ?

I didn’t know that twins were so common (1 in 250) so your explanation about how twins can have twins makes sense.

I have non I'd boys and have made sure that they know they're their own people, they choose to dress the same but occasionally won't and that's fine.
They're grandmother (ex mil) was very keen on twining them all the time (she twinned her own no twin kids too 🤦🏼‍♀️) and gets upset if they're different, I have always not liked them being referred to as 'the twins' as they're not one person they are two people. 'The boys' is fine I guess but 'the twins' always irked me. They've got names! That said they share a bed out of choice, choose to do different activities and have different haircuts etc .. all their choice. They do also prefer most of the time to be together and not apart. I don't have any other children so they only have each other and are very close.
Interesting to hear from a twin though.. especially one that hasn't stopped me in the street to say they're a twin or their aunties, uncles, sisters, cat had twins blah blah

This might be too intrusive but I have always wondered this and never had the opportunity to ask anyone. Obviously please ignore if I’m crossing a line and accept my apology in advance. Did you and your twin get your first period at almost exactly the same time?