Identical Twins...
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Category: General Chat
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12220
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Topic: Identical Twins...
Posted By: muppet
Subject: Identical Twins...
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 9:38am
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Are they hereditary?
I keep getting conflicting information on this - I always thought it was fraternal twins that were hereditary, but as both my mum and my husband's dad are identical twins people keep saying that we should be aware that we might have twins when we get pregnant! Can anyone clarify? |
Replies:
Posted By: ElfsMum
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 9:44am
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ask Maya but this is what i found
actually i won't quote it all but it says although it may appear to run in some families it isn't hereditary.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin thats one page if you want to have a look...:) ------------- Mum to two amazing boys! |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 10:00am
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Nope, identical twins aren't at all hereditary. Frateral twins are, and carried only thru the maternal line.
The gene which causes a woman to release two eggs at a time when ovulating is passed down from mother to daughter, and when two eggs are released you have the potential for fraternal twins. Identical twins are a random freak of nature where one single egg is fertilised and then splits to form two separate embryos. There have been some studies that suggest that the tendency for splitting eggs *might* be hereditary, but this hasn't been proved conclusively. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 10:02am
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PS. My twins are definitely randoms, there are no twins in either mine or Willie's family, and I have my fingers very, very tightly crossed that Iggle Piggle is only one wee bean! ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: muppet
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 10:02am
Thanks 
As cool as I'm sure twins are, I'm happy to settle for one baby at a time! 
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 10:08am
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Believe me, I wouldn't wish twins on my worst enemy! ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: ooEvaoo
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 10:51am
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My cousin had indentical twin girls and we have no twins in our extended families. My partner has twins in his extended family, and for some reason he wants to have twins too!!.
Congrats Emma on Iggle Piggle!! ------------- 
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Posted By: ooEvaoo
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 10:53am
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My cousin had indentical twin girls and we have no twins in our extended families. My partner has twins in his extended family, and for some reason he wants to have twins too!!.
Congrats Emma on Iggle Piggle!! -------------
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Posted By: ooEvaoo
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 10:55am
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My cousin had indentical twin girls and we have no twins in our extended families. My partner has twins in his extended family, and for some reason he wants to have twins too!!.
Congrats Emma on Iggle Piggle!! -------------
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Posted By: tashzmum
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 11:48am
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i fully agree with what emma said. im having identical twins and there are no twins at all in either my family or dfs family.
i forgot to say in the other thread-congrates emma.... you are going to be one very very busy lady arent you!! ------------- Natasha Jayde, 1-01-05(7lb3oz) Caroline Elisabeth, 9-04-08 (4lb15oz) Izabella Kate, 9-04-08(6lb7oz) Lexi Brenna, 23-01--2011(6lb6oz) |
Posted By: ginger
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 11:50am
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What I read somewhere when I was thinking about the twin thing with my doing IVF was that it's not hereditary, but it does increase your chances slightly. Very slightly though, from what I gather. ------------- Cuinn Lachlan 23.1.09 - 22:00 Antonia Helene 4.8.11 - 09:41 |
Posted By: LizzyJ
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 12:01pm
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Twins, thats a topic our family has definately discussed often (nana had 4 pregnancys 6 kids, she was a twin popper). What Maya said is right, the two egg twins are hereditory, identical are not hereditary however there have been studies that suggest that the weekness in the egg wall could be genetically passed on but at this stage i believe there is nothing conclusive there. to add to the confusion in our family the twins cannot decide if they were identical when they were born or not. Dad thinks he was not identical, and he was also a complete supprise, his twin thought he was identical....ish family eh. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 2:42pm
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My family were kinda the opposite and firmly believed that 'twins skipped a generation' I've proved them wrong by being a twin having twins. Thankfully I'd done all the necessary research beforehand.
Now the rest of my sisters are keeping their legs firmly crossed 
What Maya says is spot on as well about the inconclusive studies. |
Posted By: mum2paris
Date Posted: 13 November 2007 at 11:54pm
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Ooooh i love this debate.. well, not really. While i know all the stuff that's been said here, alot of others don't.. we constantly get the well-meaning relatives going "are they identical?" when we have boy-girl twins. lololol. we explain that well, no identical twins are one egg that splits so would have the same genes etc and be the same.. to which we still sometimes get the "yeah, but are they identical?" ARGHARGHARGH!!! ------------- Janine and her 2 cool chicks, Paris & Ayja 
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 14 November 2007 at 11:55am
That happens a lot, so often in fact that the Multiple Birth Ass. sells DNA test kits to test whether your twins are identical or not. If they're boy-girl then they're obviously not, and if they only have one placenta shared between them then they definitely are (monochorionic) but if there are two placentas and the twins are same-sex they could be either identical or fraternal and unless they look very different it's impossible to tell without DNA testing. My girls are definitely identical as they shared a placenta. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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LizzyJ wrote:Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 14 November 2007 at 12:06pm
LOL I get that all the time! It drives me nuts! "Oh, they are soooo identical! So, is it one of each?" *rolls eyes* ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: BaAsKa
Date Posted: 14 November 2007 at 5:41pm
LMAO! 
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Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 14 November 2007 at 5:50pm
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Well i'm a person who has to be careful cos there a twins galore on my mum's side. I have twin aunty and uncle and 3 sets of second cousins (my mum's cousins) that are twins (1 idendical - not that you can tell now) and 2 fraternal). My MW both times has sent me for early scans to rule out fraternals as she things that is what i'm more likely to have. Noone in my generation has had twins yet and we are the generation to have them going by the skipping generation. ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 15 November 2007 at 3:49pm
This isn't necessarily true. It is possible for 2 placentas to fuse together to 'appear' as one. This can only be confirmed after birth. Also twins only skip a generation through the fathers genes. He can carry the gene but doesn't have any effect on him fathering twins. |