Identical vs Fraternal Debate

My doctor told us at 8 weeks we were having twins. He said they were fraternal because there were 2 sacs and 2 placentas. I have heard that is not necessarily true.....

Can some of you enlighten me?? ardon:

What is your opinion on these two? They look A LOT alike to us! Landons head is a little mis-shaped from being head down for so long, but other than that they are very similar to me.

http://brogdonfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-october-already.html
http://brogdonfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-wish-i-was-photographer.html

 

The links aren't working.

However, your doctor could be wrong. It used to be believed that separate everything meant frats, but DNA testing has revealed that this is not necessarily the case. If the egg splits sooner, the babies will have their own everything. So, yours could in fact be ID.

eta: They do look a lot alike, but it can be harder to tell when they are so small. Mine are definitely frats, obvious even from birth. I haven't been around any ID newborns, but I'm sure more experienced moms will weigh in.

 

The first link worked for me.

I think it's still really early to tell. How much do they look like the baby photos of your oldest son? Some families just have very similar looking babies.

BUT,
the photos of them in the bath, that really looked like 4 pics of the same baby to me.
First thing to check is their blood types, maybe call the hospital and ask if it's in their records.
It's very possible that they are identical, and I'd even say it's probable.

 

I fixed the links!

 

Our girls were di-di too (or so we were told. Only one placenta at birth and it didn't look fused to me, but I'm not an expert.) Our pediatrician laughed at the possibility of them being identical, and said to wait and see what they look like after a year. That was inconclusive for us. Convinced they were frats, but wanting to know for sure, we got the test at 15 months.

DNA shows that our girls are monozygotic = identical, and they look less alike than your boys do. I'd say yours are probably identical. One cheap test I read was: do your twins have the same blood type, sex and coloring? Do strangers confuse them? Then they're identical. If the egg splits in the first three days they get separate everything. Happens in 30% of identicals, and identicals are 30% of all same sex twins I think.

Docs may have thought frat, because with a separate placenta there's no additional concerns for identicals. No TTTS, etc.

Either assume they are MZ or pay for the test to confirm!

 

Identical twins can definitely have separate sacs & placentas. Your boys do look a lot alike, I would probably want to get them tested if it were me just because I would always wonder. But I would check with the doctor first to see if they have their blood types on record, if they are different then you have your answer.

You have a beautiful family! :wub:

 

They look identical to me.

My girls are identical and were in separate sacs and had separate placentas too.

 

My unprofessional best guess: ID.
What I am sure about: You have a beautiful family and gorgeous little boys :wub:

 

I just love that foot picture at the bottom of your blog!!!

Okay, down to business. Yes, your boys could still be ID if they have the same blood type. If not, they are fraternal. We debated about doing DNA testing for 16 months and finally did it. Our di/di boys are ID too. They both have blue eyes and blond hair. DH has brown hair and green/hazel eyes and I have brown hair and brown eyes. I couldn't stand not knowing if they were ID or not and it drove me batty! The odds of us having two children with blond hair and blue eyes was so slim, but I did the testing anyway. Your boys do look a lot alike, but they are still so young that it's hard to tell. Mine went through several phases were they would look ID and then they wouldn't. When they were about 20 months, I started mixing them up!

 

My boys are DI/DI Identical too!!

 

Still too early to tell but if I had a gun to my head, I'd say identical.

 

They look very much alike I vote I.D.

 

I think they look a lot alike too. You're family is beautiful.

If your boys are looking for prom dates down the road I have some adorable ID girls who were born 4 days after yours.

 

I'm guessing ID too, but for sure they are all 100% adorable! :wub:

 

Thanks everyone!!

I just put a DNA Test on my christmas list for this year!!

 

Heather,

My boys were di/di too! We did a DNA test when they were about 4 months old. I just needed to know for sure. I was so tired of everyone making a comment about it, lol. I would definitely check on their blood types first though. We used the company www.dnasolutions.com for $99. Cheapest I've seen on the internet and I highly recommend them. I'm not sure about your boys. I do know all 3 of your boys are very handsome!!! My boys have different head shapes as well. Another thing I did that someone mentioned here on TS, was to photo crop different features on each boy and guess who's it was. My family failed the photo test, lol.

Here's one of the cropped photos of just their eyes and noses. Take out the head shape and they look alot alike
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1075122&l=896bbb9d84&id=553326734

 

First of all, what a beautiful family you have! Thanks for the blog link. I think its probably too early to tell if they are ID yet merely from looks. However, yes, they look ID to me! And also, my twin girls were in seperate sacs and had a fused placenta and they are ID.

Good luck with your gorgeous family!

 

I vote ID, too.

 

I'm another di/di mom who was told they were fraternal.

I had the test done as it was driving me crazy too- they are identical. I was the only one who thought so, though, b/c they were more than a pound apart at birth with slightly different head shapes.

But, coming here, I knew that newborns often don't look identical but grow into it.

Good luck- they're gorgeous.

Michelle

6.5 week old id boys

 

the only way to know for sure is to have them tested, or if they are boy/girl, like mine, which yours are not...they may look quite a bit alike and not be identical...family resemblences run like that..i can take pics of izzy, my 3 1/2 year old, and set them next to pics of jack and they look VERY much alike, down to the red marks over their eyelids, however they are not twins at all, it's just the family genetics...