The definition of fraternal is something like brothers, or an organization for men who have similar beliefs, or twins who are born at the same time but from different eggs. If you have someone that you treat as if he were your brother, this is an example of a relationship would be described as fraternal.

Fraternal twins are really just siblings who share the same womb. Each starts out as a separate egg fertilized by a separate sperm. They don’t share any more DNA than do any two siblings.

When used as adjectives, fraternal means of or pertaining to a or , whereas paternal means of or pertaining to one’s father, his genes, his relatives, or his side of a family.

Identical twins develop from one fertilized egg and can share the same placenta and have two separate or, rarely, one amniotic sac; fraternal twins develop from two separate eggs and grow in their own amniotic sac, according to the ACOG. …

fraternal

Here is a run-down of some of the twin-types that are quite unusual and rare in our twin-world:

• Polar Body Twins or “Half Identical”
• Semi-Identical Twins.
• Boy/Girl Monozygotic (Identical) Twins.
• Mirror Image Twins.
• Superfetation: Twins Conceived Separately.
• Heteropaternal Superfecundation: Twins with Different Fathers.

The Dutch Twins are Kit and Kat, 5 years old and not yet big enough to be called by their real names, Christopher and Katrina. They live in a typical Dutch household, around the turn of the last century.

Boy-girl twins

Of all the female conjoined twin sets either documented by medical authorities or referenced in ancient literary sources, in only one case were pregnancy and delivery successfully achieved by the conjoined twins themselves.

It is said that conjoined twins only occur in one of every 200,000 births, so naturally, Abby and Brittany Hensel’s birth attracted news outlets to report about them. While their rare birth is a story of inspiration, their survival is a miracle in its own right.

In many cases, the surgery results in the death of one or both of the twins, particularly if they are joined at the head or share a vital organ. One of the conjoined twins had already died, so the doctors of the town attempted to separate the dead twin from the surviving twin.

In the case of Brittany and Abby, their parents were unaware they were having twins until they were born! According to doctors, the twins’ heads must have been perfectly aligned during each sonogram, giving the appearance that there was only one baby.

Remarkably, the twins are able to live very different and separate lives, with Lori having had relationships and George, who was born Dori and later changed her name to Reba — deciding to live life as a man.

If twins share one set of genitals, they’re both going to feel any touching down there. Conjoined twins simply may not need sex-romance partners as much as the rest of us do. Throughout time and space, they have described their condition as something like being attached to a soul mate.

Brittany and Abby’s teaching careers. The twins are currently working in their dream job as grade five teachers. However, even though they are two different people, they are only recognised as one – and so earn only one salary, which is something that bothers them. The twins teaching a class. Image: YouTube.

Following their miraculous birth, the twins have time and time again been portrayed in the media and television documentaries. Years have gone by and Abby and Brittany have now turned 27 years old. Now, thanks to an interesting new development in their lives, they’re making headlines once again.

Eric Strauch, a pediatric surgeon at the University of Maryland Hospital for Children, says simply, “They die.” Once the dead twin’s heart stops, he adds, the “blood stops pumping, the vessels dilate, and the conjoined twin will essentially bleed into the dead twin.

When Katie and Eilish Holton were three-and-a-half years old, their parents, Mary and Liam, decided that – despite the risks – the girls had to be surgically separated. Three days after the operation, Katie died. Eilish survived, and has just celebrated her 12th birthday.

In August 1988 twins girls, Eilish and Katie, were born to Mary and Liam Holton of Donadea, Co Kildare. They were joined at the pelvis and the legs and were the subject of several newspaper articles and later a two-part television documentary.

Anna | The Eilish Twins.