identical vs fraternal

Ok so my babies are in seperate sacs and dr said they have seperate placentas. He told me in this case they can be identical or fraternal theres no way of knowing until i give birth(or if they have to do an amnio they could tell) but i was talking to a nurse at the hospital wit my grandmother last night and she has two sets of twins. She said that there is a way to tell(she had a jamaicain accent so she was hard to understand) but soemthing to do with the cord and if it splits or something? ANyone have a clue wut im talking about lol

 

The twins I am carrying are fraternal. They have 2 sacs, 2 placentas and 2 umbilical cords. I think but am not positive that identical twins share the same umbilical cord and it branches off to both of them. I am not really sure. I always thought that identical twins shared the same placenta...

 

Thats what she was saying! It had to do with the umbilical cord... so ill have to ask the girl doing my ultrasound monday if she can tell if there is one or two umbilical cords. Identical twins can have seperate placentas....its a higher chance of fraternal but they can be identica

 

At our Dr.'s meeting yesterday, we talked a little bit about that - they told us that our Triplets are fraternal because they have separate sacs and placentas.

 

OK. I'll try to explain this. I'll probably do a very bad job but here goes.

Twins can come one of 3 ways.

1. In separate placentas and separate sacs. These are called di-di. They are usually fraternal twins but not necessarily (I've heard different stats here but somewhere between 10 and 30% of di-di twins are identical). When a fertilized egg splits very early on, they can end up this way and still be identical. If the babies are the same sex, you have to wait til birth to find out. If they have different blood types, then they're frats. If the same, then you'll have to do a DNA test to know for certain.


2. In one placenta but separate sacs. These are called mono-di. These twins are ALWAYS identical.


3. In one placenta and one sac. These are called mono-mono. These twins are ALWAYS identical.

I hope I didn't screw this up too much but I'm sure someone will correct any boo-boos I made.

Cary

 

We have the first kind of twins that u explained the di di. But this ICU nurse last nite told me they can look at their umbilical cords and tell if they r identical or not from that? I HATE waiting im so anxious lol

 

I have di/di twins as well and am waiting until birth. Ive never heard of the umbilical cords- my boys aren't sharing anything! I've heard that you have have the separate placentas tested at birth, but that's not a good test. From what I've read, you have to have the DNA test to tell for certain, or wait until they are older to visually tell. Personally, I'm getting the test done. It tickles me to no end that they could be identical!

Good luck,

Michelle

 

No, there is not a scientific or accurate way to tell before birth is twins with seperate sacs and placentas are fraternal or identical unless they are different sexes or you can do an amnio and get the DNA before birth.There will be no difference in the umbilical cords of fraternal or identical twins that do not share an amnion or placenta. Sure a baby can have a strange cord insertion or a 2 vessel cord, but this happens even in singleton births. I'm afraid the nurse you spoke to beleives an old wives tale. Also,many,many OB's get the twin fraternal/Id thing incorrect and seem to forget science class and how twins work. PP got it correct, there are 3 types of twins and it all depends on when the egg splits in the case of identicals if they share anything or nothing at all. fraternals never share anything as they are the product of 2 eggs and are genetically the same as any siblings.

I hope this helps!! I know it's difficult to wait, but time goes really fast. Just to warn you, even if they are identical, you will swear they look nothing alike! It's the nature of an ID mom. happens all the time around here. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!

kelly

 

thanks!! I understand now....she got my hopes up he he its ok though it will be a surprise!

 

Just to add to the confusion - 2 placenta's can join together and look like one - so if you have one placenta there is a possibility that your babies are fraternal.

 

we are having boy/girl twins...we didn't know the sex, but at 12 weeks she knew they were fraternal, well the tech ASSUMED they were fraternal because there were (and still are) 2 sacs and 2 placentas...one is anterior and one is posterior...some times with fraternal twins they can look identical, so it may be difficult to tell just by looking at them if they are identical or not...

 

So since I am having 2 boys there is still a slight possibility they could be identical because they really have no way of knowing for sure? Even though there are 2 of everything.
My placentas are stacked and the ultrasound tech has a really hard time telling which is which. I have the same one everytime since my ultrasounds are done right in my doctor's office. I don't really like her though.

 

Yes they can still be identical! From my books on twins and all of that it says theres around a 30% chance that twins of the same sex with seperate placentas and seperate sacs will be identical. So a higher change they wont be, but 30% isnt low either!!

 

30% is the number I've heard too. My girls were di-di, with their own sac and placenta. Placentas fused. We had them tested since they still looked alike at 15 months old. Identical!

If same sex and blood type, there's no way of telling whether di-di twins are identical without a DNA test. For identicals, as PP said, their housing is all about when the zygote divided. If the split happens on days 1-3 you have di-di twins like mine!

 

Di/Di with no fusing here because they were as far apart as possible and they are ID. It happens. And if you think it will be obvious by looking at them, my husband was absolutely convinced our boys were fraternal right up until the DNA test results arrived (they were 15 months old).

I've educated a couple of nurses on this subject. I don't think it's something studied thoroughly in nursing school because it's simply not important to their everyday job. Ultrasound techs, on the other hand, should know.

 

I am twenty six weeks pregnant with fraternal twin boy's each has its own placenta, sac,and umbilical cord.. It was very hard to tell that they were fraternal because they are so close to each other but my doctor showed me were they were seperated so there is no doubt that my twins are fraternal. The futher along you get the better chance you have to see if there identical or fraternal.. I was wanting identical twins but when i herd that fraternal twins can look just alike and sometimes more alike than identical i was ok with that.. Just as long as they come out healthy, thats all i ask for!! Oh yea an example of fraternal twins looking just alike are Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, the only difference is there eye color. One has blue the other green. Just a fun fact!!

 

I am quite sure that even if you have two of everything, youc an still be identical depending on when the egg split. My girls were di/di. My doctor insists the only way to know for sure is to do a DNA test. My girls look SO much alike but they are 2 1/2 and I still havne't gotten a DNA test. I have a sneaking suspicion they are identical. I think the same thing about Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen!!

 

(saw this in the new posts list)

Even if they both have their own everything there is still about a 25% chance they are identical. (we were di/di and took a DNA test)

We have a member here who is friends with the Olsen's brother. She called him and asked straight up and he said they have been tested and they are fraternal.

 

Um, hate to say it... but your doctor is confused. The only thing that "seperation" shows is that your twins are di-di. And up to 30% of di-di twins are identical. SO, even if your same-sex twins have their own placentas, sacs and umbilical cords, there is a still a 30% chance they are identical. If they have the same blood type when born you'll either have to have them tested or wait to see what they look like as they get older.

 

My twins didn't share anything either and they looked alike to me since birth except Eli was redder and thinner compared to Peyton. So after lots of talk with my dh we did zygosity testing through Proactive Genetics just before they turned 1. It came back as more than 99% that they were in fact identical. Also if they have separate placentas how could they have an umbilical cord that splits into 2?

 

well, this answers MY questions--my girls are di/di with a seemingly fused placenta so we are still up in the air!! We think it is possible that they are identical, but think it would be quite odd to have twins that look as different as our other 2 girls (our 8yo, like me, dark straight hair, hazel eyes and our 3yo, like my SILs with blond curls and blue eyes)

 

I have di-di twin girls. I knew they were identical before they were born....no idea how...just knew. No one believed me until they were a year old and no one could tell them apart. I did the dna test to be certain and to prove my now ex-husband wrong...he still doubted that they are ID.

I think that the 30% is actually higher. Many doctors/nurses/ultrasound technicians are not taught that there can be di-di ID twins and misinform people. I know because both my doc and u/s tech said my girls are frat soley because they are di-di.

Identical twins will have the same blood type. In my daughters case their bottom 2 front teeth came in at an angle...but it is exactly the same for both of them (another clue they are ID) have the same hair line and only have slight differences in their face. They also have weighed within a pound of each other since birth and have been within an inch and a half in height since birth.

Now, not all identical twins will be that close in height/weight as there are environmental factors that can change things.

Here are my suggestions on whether or not to test:

Wait until they are at least 1 years old....and this is why:
1. If their blood type is different they are frat.
2. If they start looking more alike, they are most likely ID
3. If their hair color or eye color is different they are frat ( believe slight shade differences are normal. I'm talking about having one blonde kid and one brunette)
4. They've grown out of their baby phase and will either look alike or completely different.
5. Other people will be able to tell whether or not they look alike since parents of ID twins tend to think their kids are frats because we notice the subtle differences between our twins.

 

Just another mom checking in! Our boys were di-di and the placentas were opposite (one anterior, the other posterior)--so everything totally separate. However, when they were born and had the same blood type, and looked pretty darn similar, we decided to have them tested. They are, in fact, ID. The DNA test is really the only way to know for sure.

 

Love this thread! I am expecting di-di twin boys in the next few weeks. At our first ultrasound when we found out we were having twins, the dr told us they were fraternal. I went home and told all of our family they were frat, only to learn that isn't necessarily true. Now whenever someone asks, and I am around family, they look at me like I am crazy because now I say we don't know yet. Anyways...

I can't wait to find out if my boys are frat or id. It doesn't really matter either way, but will be interesting.

Any clue what the DNA test costs? I have heard it is pretty expensive, but not sure what the means. Does insurance cover it?

 

I have di-di identicals. Separate sacs/placentas, but from the same egg. The earlier the split, the more likely they are to be di-di. If they split really late, chances are they'll share a sac and placenta. Statistically they're not that common, though.