DNA test to tell if identical?

Hello All,
I am new to this forum so i apologize if this question has been answered a million times I have twin six month old boys who look very similar but we arent sure if they are def identical or not. My hubby and i arent really too bothered by the fact that we do not know, and we personally believe that they are. However....my meddling pain in the rear mother in law has to ask every time she comes over if we found out if they are or not. Then she proceeds to ask everyone in the room what they think and why we have not found out yet. She is a total know it all and was told that if i call the hospital where they were born that they will be able to tell me. I honestly havent done so yet just to annoy her lol. I know im terrible but you have no idea. I keep reading on here tho that the DNA test is expensive. So is it true that i can call the hospital? Because if it was that easy wouldnt everyone just do that? Thanks in advance everyone!

 

If you think they are I bet they are! Especially since often times parents of ID twins don't think their kids look alike! Post pics in this thread and I bet you will get your answer!

 

Hello and welcome to TS! Interesting question. I think she's 1/2 right. Firstly, what kind of twins were your boys or did they share a placenta? I'm assuming Di/di (did not share a placenta). I think what your MIL was told was about blood type and placenta pathology. If their blood type is different, they are fraternal. However, if their blood type is the same, that's not a tell either way. With the placenta, they look at whether it was 1 big placenta feeding 2 babies (meaning ID twins) or 2 separate placenta (could be ID or frat) or 2 placentas that fused together (could be ID or frat).

Whew. I hope that made sense.

Now, if she is all fired up to find out, the test is about $100. Have her get it for you for Christmas for the boys. :lol:

I admire your strength- my boys were di/di (assumed frats) and within 3 weeks of birth I had to know and bought the test.

 

We have di/di boys that are almost 6 months old. I thought they'd be fraternal but they look SOOO much alike. My mom finally asked if she could pay to have the test done, and I said sure because I'm really curious! We got our test through proactive genetics and it was about $100. Hoping to have the results in a week or so!

 

My boys were di/di and the placenta pathology at the hospital confirmed two placentas. So, we checked with their doctor about having a DNA test done and he said it would cost more through their office and recommended we just do it online. We tested our boys at around 8 months and went with Affiliated Genetics ($160); we had our results in 8 days... identical. I was surprised by the results because by then, we could tell them apart so I am glad we know for sure. Not that it matters, but I just wanted to know!! Interesting option is to have your MIL pay for the test!! Congrats on your babies!!

 

I wouldn't pay to have it done. The girls placenta and the issues that they had proved them identical even if they really don't look much a like(one has curly hair one has straight. I'd let the mil pay for it if she's that curious.

 

Certainly call the hospital or ask your pediatrician to check their charts to see if it says whether they were mono/di (identical) or di/di (could be either). If they were di/di, see if there is a placental report you can have checked. Like Michelle said, if there's one placental they're identical. Two placentas or two that fused into one means you need a DNA test!

We made the call to the hospital where our girls were born and didn't have to spend the money on the test since they shared one placenta.

 

Hi All. What DNA test(s) do you recommend? Someone mentioned Affiliated Genetics? Any others that people like? We have twin girls. They look different to me but if I don't see their hair I get them confused. And though it's been a great topic of debate (ID or no), I am excited to find out for sure!

Thanks!

 

We ordered a test from proactive genetics - I wanted to know if the girls were identical or not (di/di, 2 placentas) because my ob and sonographer said they should be fraternal but they sure seem identical to us (of course they are still very young). We are expecting the results in the next two days. I think it was $90 - my MIL ordered it (we split the cost).

 

Call the hospital first...or talk to your OB. My OB had the pathology report but it was inconclusive so they could not tell if my girls were ID or not. However, the women on this site are really good at telling if they are or not. More times than not, they are right.

 

Thanks, everyone! The girls were di/di. We did a home birth so we didn't have the placentas tested. I will get a DNA test but I've added their picture to my profile. Hopefully it will show up here.

 

The picture didn't show up so trying again here.

 

We got our results back - turns out our di/di twins are indeed identical

 

Hi Everyone. Got our DNA test results back. Our di/di girls are identical!