IN TWINS HOW CAN YOU TELL IF BIRTH IS IDENTICAL OR FATERNAL?. ARE IDENTICAL ALWAYS SAME SEX? IS IT POSSIBLE TO SWAB THE INSIDE OF TWINS MOUTH TO DETERMINE IF IDENTICAL THRU USE OF A ZEGOSITY TEST, I THINK THAT IS WHAT IT IS CALLED? IF TWINS ARE BORN IN SEPARATE SAC BUT SHARE 1 PLACENTA IS THAT FATERNAL? THANKS

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No, twins that are fraternal can NOT share the same placenta.

And yes, identical twins are always the same sex

quote:

Originally posted by Georgia85:
And yes, identical twins are always the same sex

and this is because the twins were once a single egg.. it was split in half and so they HAVE to be the same sex.

Identical are always dressed exactly the same. Fraternal wear any old thing.

THANKYOU EVERYONE FOR ANSWERS. SO, CAN FATERNAL TWINS BE THE SAME SEX? IN A FATERNAL BIRTH THERE WOULD BE TWO SACS PLACENTAS AND TWO PLACENTA? OUR DOCTOR SAID THEY WERE IDENTICAL BUT I HEARD FROM ANOTHER DOCTOR THAT IF IT IS TWO SEPARATE BIRTHS AND ONE PLACENTA IT IS FATERNAL. NOW I AM CONFUSED. DOES THE ZYGOSITY TEST WORK FOR CERTAIN? JUST BY SWABING THE MOUTH THEY CAN TELL IF IDENTICAL. WOULD THE FINGERPRINTS BE MORE ACURATE?

Think of it this way. "fraternal" means brotherly. So if two babies are born in only one pregnancy, and they are 'fraternal' twins, it is just as if they were ordinary brothers (or sisters) except that they were born at one time.

So there are two placentas, each containing one fraternal twin.

But if they are identical twins, they were once just one egg! Really. Then as the cell started dividing, at some point each 'half' just takes off and they become different individuals, but because they came from the same egg, they have the same DNA.

So that is why identical twins are always the same sex.

Whereas fraternal (or 'just brothers' or sisters) twins can be either sex. They can both be boys. They can both be girls. There can be one boy and one girl.

So I would go with what your own doctor told you.

Fingerprints get affected by what happens to hands. Even while in the womb. And later in life, fingerprints are often useless in detecting identical twins, because so much happens to our hands just in living every day!

So you should get the test.

Or you could just say, hey, they're cute and healthy, so they're fine as they are!

Thanks again, my doctor who is very young said they were identical twins. Each in there own bag of water sac with one placenta?. Born by c-section, the second twin in the birth canal got in front of the first twin and his water broke and was delivered. Then the doctor broke the next twins water and he was delivered. so, do identical twins share the same/one water sac? do ferternal two separate births, grow in there own water/two sacs with placenta attached to each?? forgive me but everyone in family here confusing the facts. could my doctor have missed a placenta upon delivery? The boys look simular but not exactly same as there faces are shaped abit different. And, if identical then, if one has a birth mark would the other have it too? One has a ear tag on left ear and the other has a neck mole on right side.i'm understanding abit more now but want to be 100% sure of facts repeated. being that the boys lets say are 2 births a faternal wouldnt the zygosity test show there dna profile is simular enough just by being related w same parents, doesnt sound too reliable findings. wouldnt you need more then a swab of the mouth to know if identical match? Help!

THANKS EVERYONE, SO I TOOK YOUR ADVICE AND GOT THE TEST. LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE IDENTICAL! STILL NOT SURE HOW THAT CAN BE TRUE WHEN EACH WAS IN THERE OWN SEPARATE WATER SAC? BUT, THEY WERE IDENTICAL?!

Glad our members were able to help you sort this out mimmysayhow! Although I don't know the answer to the "2 sacs" issue, this is something I'm sure you'll be able to find out with a little more research of if one of our medical professionals can explain it in more detail.

The little differences you saw early on could easily have been attributed to the birth itself, how they were lying in the womb, etc. Even if they're identical in genetics, there could still be some minor differences - identical doesn't always mean exact, if that makes sense. There are many outside influences that can determine appearance as Babs indicated in her post above.

One comment on the aside...please do not type in all upper-case when you post. It makes it harder to read, and all caps is often seen as "shouting".

Good luck with your twins, and have fun...they won't be as much fun in 13-14 years!