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Multiple births

When do you start showing with twins? What is life with twins like? Join the conversation on our Multiple Births forum.

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Original poster

are my twins identical

13 replies

draper · 26/10/2005 21:41

just wondering if anyone else out there has idents but think they look completely different? It's o.k. I do have a glass of wine by my side but I am serious. My two are 11 months old, girls, and from 12 weeks I was seen at Queen Charlotte's hosp. every two weeks until birth and had very detailed scans and was told that they were definitely identical as they shared a placenta and where mono chorionic( shared the same outer sack apparently!) However, I'm not convinced and I'm not in a position to pay to have the test at the moment. People who see them say they are alike but I'm never confused unless they are asleep and my 4y old never gets them mixed up. Anyone else in similar dilemma or is it just me, perhaps I should just up my dosage!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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nooka · 26/10/2005 22:22

I seem to remember from some programme or other that there are varying degrees of identicallness, depending on when the egg splits. However even very identical twins can usually be told apart by their immediate family - usually by behaviour rather than looks, I believe. I'm not quite sure why you worried about it?

MarsLady · 26/10/2005 22:26

Maybe you should up your dosage lol

Seriously though, why does it bother you?

Miaou · 26/10/2005 22:40

We had identical twin girls at our school and they were far from identical - you could tell which was which from about twenty feet (despite the fact that they dressed identically).

Original poster

draper · 26/10/2005 22:48

i suppose i've just got too much time on my hands! no it does't worry me but I don't know wether it's important for them to know medically speaking for future reference and I'm just curious to know because to me they are sooo different in every way and one was taken to special care when she was born for a couple of hours and i wonder wether they gave me back the wrong one. ONLY JOKING!!! just curios is all

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FrumpyGrumpy · 26/10/2005 23:02

Sorry can't help, mine are non identical and are so different in every way I'm wondering if the postie took advantage of me and I didn't notice!! LOL I'M KIDDING, I'M KIDDING .

4darlings · 28/10/2005 00:35

not just you!!! my two are id girls who shared the same placenta/sac. there a lot of days when they just look totally different but on other days seem to blend into one and you are like "who is who"!! i queried this with my doc asking if he could double check my notes as i was having doubts....he says that they dont actually come truly identical till the age of 2 or thereabouts so hang on till then!!! but this was the first time i had heard of this so whether its true or not i dont know.

SoupDragon · 28/10/2005 11:19

Can't help but there are twin boys at DSs school who are the opposite of this - separate placentas but DNA test proved they were identical.

Kelly1978 · 28/10/2005 11:24

i dont blame u being curious. it was one fo the first thingsdd I wanted to know when finding out I was expecting twins. Mine are non id and very different, but I have known id that are very similar. i was relieved that they weren't too similar, I've only ever got them muddled two or three times when they were very small.

TwoIfBySea · 28/10/2005 20:50

Did anyone else get told this at the hospital? The doc who delivered my two had done research on twins being a dad of dd twins himself.

He said that identical twins have identical ear prints so by looking at the ear you can tell. And although dst are non-identical they are very alike (so maybe that later egg split going on.) Like I said on the left-hand thread I get funny looks from people who can't see the difference when they ask if they are identical (like they would have to ask if it was obvious!), luckily we can!

tamum · 28/10/2005 21:11

I don't see how the egg split thing can possibly work- it would have exactly the same DNA whenever it split, so the resulting children would be bound to be identical whenever it was, to be honest.

Original poster

draper · 28/10/2005 21:55

I seem to remember someone telling me the same thing about getting more alike as they grow older and a woman I spoke to recently at the Multiple Birth Foundation told me the same thing about the ears and also the toes but to be honest I can't keep 'em still long enough to compare. Thanks 4D.. I'm glad it's not just me I shan't demand a refund yet I'll give them another year!!

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Kelly1978 · 29/10/2005 21:06

I think tanum is right. From what I read if an egg splits then the babies are going to share the same dna and therefore be identical - no matter what stage it happens at. The only difference it would make is in the formation of the embryo sac. If an egg splits early enough it is possible for two sacs to develop. So on a scan it might appear that they were non identical, but there is somethng like a 25% chance tht they are identical. I think it is also possible to form seperate placentas too, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.

AndreaP · 27/11/2005 18:40

TwoIfbySea - are you sure your two are not id as they sound similar to mine? Was told mine were non -id as they had seperate sacs. For three years people asked if they were id as they are very similar and I told them no. However I did the dna test and was amazed that they are id. Sometimes they look totally different to me but have the same eye/hair colour and shaped feet, also different shaped forheads. Although I do sometimes get them mixed up especially if they are wearing hats or are asleep, and do seem to look more alike now I know they are id !!

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