Identical twins: only one egg is fertilized but it divides onto 2 embryos. So they have the same genetic info. Fraternal twins: two separate eggs are fertilized by separate sperms.

Identical twins form from the same egg and get the same genetic material from their parents — but that doesn’t mean they’re genetically identical by the time they’re born.

To form identical or monozygotic twins, one fertilised egg (ovum) splits and develops into two babies with exactly the same genetic information. To form fraternal or dizygotic twins, two eggs (ova) are fertilised by two sperm and produce two genetically unique children.

Your ultrasound technician may be able to tell whether your twin babies are fraternal or identical by looking at the placenta. If you’re having twins that are fraternal, they will have their own placentas.

Here are your odds: Boy-girl twins are the most common kind of dizygotic twins, occurring 50% of the time. Girl-girl twins are the second most common occurrence. Boy-boy twins are the least common.

In 99.9% of cases boy/girl twins are non-identical. However, in some extremely rare cases resulting from a genetic mutation, identical twins from an egg and sperm which began as male (XY) can develop into a male / female pair.

Yes! Identical twins came from the same sperm and egg, so they have the same chromosomes and genes. As identical twins get older they may look more and more different, because they are exposed to more diverse environments. The science of epigenetics explains how these environmental influences can affect the genes.

Identical twins share a lot of similarities in both their genetic makeup and their physical appearances. Due to environmental factors that affect their development inside the womb, it’s impossible for identical twins to have the exact same fingerprints.

Identical twins do not have identical fingerprints, even though their identical genes give them very similar patterns. Small differences in the womb environment conspire to give each twin different, but similar, fingerprints. In fact, each finger has a slightly different pattern, even for your own fingers.

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Despite their shared gene set, identical twins are unique individuals. No two individuals are exactly alike. They are influenced by slight differences in the environment in the womb as well as other factors once they are born.

Most twins can’t feel each other’s physical pain and I have no recollection of any of the twins I have encountered having telepathy but, twins do have a magic connection on an emotional level. “I don’t feel physical pain, but I definitely feel her emotional pain.

Intimacy may be greater between identical twins than fraternal ones, but both kinds of twins said in one study that the loss of their twin hurts longer, and more intensely, than the loss of nearly anyone else. When their twin dies, the remaining ones often experience profound survivors’ guilt.

Singleton pregnancies that started as twins are still difficult and risky for the fetus and the mother – aborting the other fetus does not change that.

After the developing twin disappears, its fetal tissue is absorbed by the surviving baby and its mother. A vanishing twin can cause feelings of confusion, anxiety, and grief for people who have been told they’re carrying multiple pregnancies.