Everyone knows that boy/girl twins can’t identical right? Wrong!

[Tincytot]

Here is my Friday night rant as a mum of twins teenagers who still gets asked if they are identical when the girl/boy twins are standing right in front of them, looking not one bit alike let alone identical. Plus they’re different sexes!

typical conversation-
“oh you have twins, what are they?”
”a boy and a girl”
“lovely, are they identical?”
”no they’re a boy and a girl”
”yeah but are they identical?”

🙄🙄

Batman is now identifying as Catwoman

The Wikipedia article someone linked says there are 6 per thousand identical twins (I think that's per live birth) so each person in an office has 1 in 500 chance of being an identical twin.
So the odds are
(1/500)7 of the first 7 being identical twins and (499/500) 28 for the rest not.
And then the odds of nos 1-6 plus no 8 being identical twins
Etc etc for all combinations of 7 picked out of the 35.

But some non-identical twins can look extremely similar, so it's easier to ask rather than assume you're identical. The Olsen twins for example look very similar, but they are not identical.

It is possible to have identical twins with separate placentas/ sacs but quite rare.
I know someone who is officially a non-identical twin as they had separate sacs and placentas but they are definitely identical, ie you mistake one for the other even though X is 2 stone heavier than Y and doesn't dye their hair. So if X is the one you know well and you bump into Y, you don't think, oh that must be X's twin brother, you think blimey X has lost weight since this morning and what has he done to his hair?

That is hilarious

Yes I understand that, but I just don’t think people think about it that much. It’s not that deep.

I have a twin brother and am quite often asked whether we're identical. My common answer is no - I've got bigger boobs

But surely now you actually think about it you must realise it’s impossible right? Identical means identical. You can’t be identical if you’re not identical. One fertilised egg splitting cannot make both a male and a female.

Got asked if mybDDs were twins, when they were in the double buggy.

One was 3 months, one was coming up tontwo years old.

I understand it more now they are teens. They are the same height. Oddly, it hasnt been asked since one had her hair cut short!

How? I mean really, you didnt know that a male and a female could not be identical? I find it very hard to believe that anyone would struggle with this. What on earth did you think the word identical meant?

I have 3 DDs, the younger two are non identical twins. One of them looks very like my older DD and they look nothing like each other!

I’m so glad I’m home alone tonight, I’ve full on belly laughed at this like a nutter

1 in 86(ish) million is the odds.

Do you think the hiring manager has a kink? Or that the employees are playing a prank on the previous poster. Wonder if they’ve ever actually seen the twin in real life

Bit lacking in knowledge of basic biology.

Why would you let such an innocuous question wind you up? Seems weird to be so irritated by something that has absolutely no impact on you. Just say no - boys and girl twins can’t be identical - no need to be so smug, sometimes people say stuff without thinking. Happens to everyone.

Most people don't really spend a lot of time thinking about the different types and definitions of twins. It's not the kind of thing that would immediately make me think someone was stupid or ignorant if they didn't necessarily realise straight away.

Roughly 1/3 of DCDA twins (two sacs two placentas) are identical. This is because the embryo splits very early and gives the body time to create two sacs and two placentas. Sometimes there’s one placenta to share. If the embryo splits too late it’s conjoined twins. All these twins will be identical.

Non identical needs two eggs.

There were some famous conjoined twins, female but one was Trans and id'd as male.

Extra bonkers that they remained conjoined all their lives. Schapell twins.

Makes a change from asking if you had IVF I guess. Why is that not considered intrusive if you have twins???

The BMJ says that this occurrence has only ever been documented worldwide 6 times. So statistically, nobody on MN has ever met any of these 12 people. So yes, it’s technically scientifically possible due to a rare genetic condition, but pretty unreasonable to assume that the random B/G twins we meet out and about are one of the 6 documented cases.

Speaking in general terms of genetics, an XX zygote cannot split into XX and XY twins, and an XY zygote cannot split into XX and XY twins.

My daughter is best friends with twins. I have known them for 5 years and still can’t tell apart aside from what rucksack they are carrying or coat they are wearing. They look completely identical and yet they are non-identical twins. And they definitely are non-identical because one girl has a medical condition that they would both have if they were identical. My daughter says if you look closely one girl has a freckle under her eye! They have very different personalities so not so difficult to tell apart once you speak to them, but identical in appearance.

Someone who knew my children were twins asked if they had the same father. I know they look really different, but come on - I'm not a cat!

I agree. Anything like that, I chalk up to the half-thinking, harmless stuff that people say to make conversation.

People obv tend to ask 'are they identical?' meaning their facial features. People see similarities far faster than they see differences. People speak without thinking. People are usually trying to be nice when they ask stuff like that: I couldn't get too annoyed about it, tbh.

The thing that blew my mind most to learn about twins was that there are mirror twins. Amazing.

Do they have to really think to realise a penis is different to a vagina?