Mono/di twins .... are they always identical?

I finally got the answer from the peri .. "yes, your twins are mono/di" ... so, does this automatically mean they are identical???

 

Mono means 1, so I'm going with yes.

Wikipedia Link Under monozygotic twins (aka identical twins) is this line "Most of the time in MZ twins the zygote will split after two days, resulting in a shared placenta, but two separate sacs. These are called monochorionic, diamniotic ("mono/di") twins."

 

Yes, if they are indeed mo/di, they must be identical. However, I caution that a diagnosis of mo/di in utero is not 100% accurate. Both my OB and peri told me that I was pregnant with mo/di boys. At the birth, the OB confirmed that it was 1 placenta. However, within hours of the birth we didn't believe they were identical. We confirmed different blood types - and therefore fraternal twins - at about 3-4 weeks of age.

 

Melissa,

Had your placenta fused? That would look like mo/di twins, right?

 

My ob has told me I too have mono/di twins. I egg and two amniotic sacks and one placenta. He has told me that they are identical. I didn't even know there was a chance that they could not be identical. They come from the same egg so how could they be fraternal? This is very interesting. Thanks for starting this thread. I am interested to see other replies.

Melissa

 

I was told through mt Dr.'s that usually they are identical- We'll see at birth

Tina

 

QUOTE(mricharde @ Mar 21 2008, 01:12 PM) [snapback]680968[/snapback]
My ob has told me I too have mono/di twins. I egg and two amniotic sacks and one placenta. He has told me that they are identical. I didn't even know there was a chance that they could not be identical. They come from the same egg so how could they be fraternal? This is very interesting. Thanks for starting this thread. I am interested to see other replies.

Melissa


do u know for sure it was one egg?

 

the peri is pretty sure that they are identical, My boys are very very close together, and they have only one placenta they can see. I mean there is room for error, but even from the begining how close they are to each other they said they'd be surprised if they were fraternals. Every ultrasound i have, they comment at how close the boys are together, and if they didnt verify it, it'd be hard to beleive they were in seperate amniotic sacs

 

Yes, mo/di twins are always ID. Frat twins cannot chare a placenta.

That said, sometimes fused placentas look like one placenta so you can think it's mo/di, when it's really di/di with a fused placenta. If you have an early u/s, it's easier to determine because they would share a gestational sac and therefore be monochorionic. Later on, it's harder to determine one placenta because it could be two close together or fused.

Don't know if that helps or not, but if you have an early u/s pic we could probably tell you! It was obvious at my 8 week u/s -two babies in one place.

Jenny

 

QUOTE(j&jtwins @ Mar 21 2008, 03:06 PM) [snapback]681238[/snapback]
do u know for sure it was one egg?


My doctor seems to be..... at my 7 week ultrasound there was one gestational sack and two babies. I have just gone by what he has said. Like I mentioned before I wasn't aware there was a chance that they could be fraternal. If they aren't id for some reason it will take away a bit of my "what if I can't tell my babies apart" stress away

 

QUOTE(ferfischer @ Mar 22 2008, 01:05 AM) [snapback]681594[/snapback]
Yes, mo/di twins are always ID. Frat twins cannot chare a placenta.

That said, sometimes fused placentas look like one placenta so you can think it's mo/di, when it's really di/di with a fused placenta. If you have an early u/s, it's easier to determine because they would share a gestational sac and therefore be monochorionic. Later on, it's harder to determine one placenta because it could be two close together or fused.

Don't know if that helps or not, but if you have an early u/s pic we could probably tell you! It was obvious at my 8 week u/s -two babies in one place.

Jenny



Yep...what she said.

 

I was diagnosed with mo/di twins at 11 weeks... and again confirmed at 15 weeks.. the tech that did the u/s at 15 weeks told me that 11 weeks was early enough to confirm mo/di twins.. just by the chorionic sac alone. putting aside the sharing placenta. They also believe mine share 1 placenta. So we are under the assumption that we are having identical twins.

 

my peri said the same thing. he said my girls shared a placenta and had a very thin lining between their amniotic sacs, so they are ID

 

this is my 10 week one but you can see both babies share a chlorion or are in the same baggy there isnt a line in between them, but they have their own amniotic sacs they're laying in wierd positions in this one you can only see like the bottom of the top of the one on the right.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m193/ju...98/IMG_0002.jpg

My Internet explorer is messed up tonight or i'd link my 8 week one.. were you can see both babies in the same bubble even more clearly

hopefully this is what you were talking about,

 

Yep, they are right....one placenta is ALWAYS identical. A fused placenta, which can look like one, can be frat OR identical......

 

I'm wondering if a 3D ultrasound will give more accurate diagnosis of identical twins versus a fused placenta. I don't even know what a fused placenta is? I was told I'm having identical twins at my 7w ultrasound. They appear to have the same placenta, different sacs.

Claire

 

QUOTE(ferfischer @ Mar 21 2008, 09:05 PM) [snapback]681594[/snapback]
Yes, mo/di twins are always ID. Frat twins cannot chare a placenta.

That said, sometimes fused placentas look like one placenta so you can think it's mo/di, when it's really di/di with a fused placenta. If you have an early u/s, it's easier to determine because they would share a gestational sac and therefore be monochorionic. Later on, it's harder to determine one placenta because it could be two close together or fused.

Don't know if that helps or not, but if you have an early u/s pic we could probably tell you! It was obvious at my 8 week u/s -two babies in one place.

Jenny


How early?? My first u/s was at 14 weeks ... had no idea we were having twins -- I was having the u/s for a cervical check, since I've had LEEPs before.
14w,4 days

 

Based on that Ultrasound pic, they do look like they're sharing a chorion (and therefore sharing a placenta). There is no "lambda" sign in between (you can google that if you want to know what I'm talking about), making it look like two chorionic sacs. It's easier to see this division between 10 and 14 weeks, though. But we aren't professional US techs, either. I've just seen lots of US pics. And both my twin pregnancies were monochorionic, although the first one was 'diagnosed' incorrectly as dichorionic until we were diagnosed with TTTS.

 

QUOTE(DiannaK @ Mar 22 2008, 07:04 AM) [snapback]681963[/snapback]
How early?? My first u/s was at 14 weeks ... had no idea we were having twins -- I was having the u/s for a cervical check, since I've had LEEPs before.
14w,4 days


I can't tell from that angle but your doctor saw other angles and is probably right. I can still tell in an image taken at 20 weeks that mine were di/di but they just happened to get a good shot at the right angle to see both membranes clearly. When they got close in and the boys were kicking each other, it was much harder to tell whether that little white line flickering on the screen was only amnions or both amnions and chorions.

 

I have heard you can never really know about ID until the the babies come out - then they can do pathology on the placenta and find out forsure if it is fused...etc.

I have Monoamniotic/monchorianic twins in my belly - so my peri said that is the only forsure way to tell without a misdiagnosis. u/s/ can only show so much.....and there is much operator error.

 

They knew at 9 weeks that my twins were mono di. It was early enough to be able to see clearly that there really was only one placenta. Over time if there are two, they can fuse together to look like one. But often, the earlier the U/S, the more accurate regarding placentas.