Are they identical??

[alex-sandra27]

mine aren't identical.but i was hopeing that they are identicals when i was waiting Sophie and Maddy..i don't know why

[Kelly W]

My twins were IVF ICSI and are not identical, during the pregnancy I was sure of this as the embryos had impanted on opposite sides of my uterus and I thought that if one had split then it would implant near the other - would't it.

anyway FYI I read somewhere when I was pregnant that IVF embies have more chance of splitting since they touched more, so I don't think this necessarily means regular or ICSI.

On a funny note, a few ladies in my multiple birth group say they are often asked that question by strangers "are they identical" - boy/girl twins which can't be. I think strangers just don't know what else to say.

[Olive]

there is such a thing asdentical boy girl twins!!!!! obviously very rare but i saw it in a tv show rtecently

[Angel Babies 3]

Sorry, having a boy and a girl definitely means they are not identical. Simple fact they ahave different sex gene discounts them being identcal straight away. Some TV shows can be misleading.

Debbie

[krysalyss]

A friend of mine had mono-amniotic twins (share the same sac and placenta) so they were definitely identical. They are now about 10 months (7 months corrected age) and they cannot tell them apart. They paint their nails so that can make sure they dont get them mixed up.
(This is also what some zoos do to tell some of their animals like kangaroos apart!)

[pansy]

Girlsundae,I have fraternal twin girls and they were also dichorionic diamniotic twins.We found out at 19 weeks they were both girls and was told the same thing.70% chance fraternal and 30% chance of ID twins.We gathered they were fraternal as twins are in my family.
When they were born they were definately different.Alike as any 2 siblings can be but different.My OB confirmed they were fraternal when they were born.

[JRW]

we're in the same boat (dichorionic diamniotic) and have been given the same stats. We had our 19wk scan last week and asked not to be told the sexes. Suppose we'll find out when they're born if they're identical or not (i'm kind of hoping they are!!)

[krysalyss]

Some info I found on different sex identical twins:

But what about identical twins who are remarkably different? They can, for instance, differ appreciably in size, intellect, and behavior. In such cases, does nurture dominate nature? No! Identical twins may diverge even in the womb, where one may receive more oxygen and nutrients than the other. One also may be assailed in by viruses, bacteria, or drugs, while the other escapes. Even more drastic is the possi bility that one twin may pick up an extra chromosome soon after the original egg has split. Also, mutations may doom one twin to Down's syndrome or some other genetic affliction, while the other is unscathed. Identical twins may even be of different sex! Of course, such twins are genetically different, but they are still monozygotic (from the same egg). Blood tests will show them to be identical.

and

monozygotic/identical twins are nearly always the same sex either boy/boy or girl/girl. Until very recently, in fact, experts thought monozygotic/identical twins had to be same-sex. But now we know that there are certain rare instances* when monozygotic/identical twins can actually be different-sex individuals; when this has occurred and been documented, the twins are genetically identical in every way other than a slight chromosomal difference.
*The rare instance in which a set of boy/girl monozygotic/identical twins occurs is the result of Turner's Syndrome, in which both individuals are actually XY boys, but one child loses the Y chromosome, yielding a baby who is XO. One twin appears externally to be a girl, but grows up infertile, short, and usually with a couple of other recognizable physical characteristics. Miscarriages occur frequently in such pregnancies, which is why these sets of twins are rare.

[Angel Babies 3]

krysalyss, they are known as "polar body" twins or "half-identical twins". Where the egg splits before fertilization and then the two halves are fertilised by separate sperm. Very rare and not true identical twins as the sex genes are different even though the other genes are the same.

Debbie