I have a friends and she is sort of loose..she has twins and they are fraternal. They look nothing alike nor have any of the same features. She does not know who the father of twin is and thinks that it could be two different guys...is this possible?
2006-09-17 15:03:53 · 30 answers · asked by keyche 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Other - Pregnancy & Parenting
Yes this does happen. I work with babies and I saw twins who had different fathers, different races too. This happens when the woman has sex with 2 men within a couple of days, and when 2 eggs are released and one is fertilized by man A's sperm, and the 2nd egg is fertilized with man B's sperm. This is why a cat will have 5 kittens with 5 different fathers, for the same reason.
2006-09-17 15:05:45 · answer #1 · answered by Melissa 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Not only is it possible for fraternal twins to have different fathers, it has actually happened. There's even a medical term for it: superfecundation. The classic case, which is discussed in Williams Obstetrics (1980), was recorded in 1810 by John Archer, the first doctor to receive a medical degree in the United States. According to Archer, a white woman who had sex with a black man and a white man within a short time subsequently gave birth to twins--one white, one mulatto. Other cases have been reported since.
Superfecundation is possible because fraternal twins result from two separate eggs fertilized independently. Some think it happens fairly often, but until recently it was difficult to prove, due to the crudeness of the traditional testing method, which involved comparing blood types. In 1978, however, Dr. Paul Terasaki of the UCLA School of Medicine reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that he and his colleagues had conclusively established a case of superfecundation using a sophisticated procedure called tissue or HLA (human leukocyte antigen) testing. This technique can also be applied to more conventional cases.
2006-09-17 22:06:05 · answer #2 · answered by They call me ... Trixie. 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
This is not possible. The twins are not expected to look alike, as they are fraternal! All siblings look different. She is probably telling you that the father of the twins could be two different guys. If they do DNA tests, and the twins have two different fathers, there was a mix up at the hospital!!! This is so rare, it really never happens.
2006-09-17 22:58:28 · answer #3 · answered by alone1with3 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Its very possible. Also, even if she hadnt slept around, just because they are twins doesnt mean they HAVE to look alike. The only twins that do look alike are identical twins. Fraternal twins are just like another other set of siblings, they just happen to be conceived/born at the same time.
2006-09-18 02:48:20 · answer #4 · answered by ~ Amanda ~ 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't think so. And if it is, very very very rare. Not all twins look exactly alike even if they are fraternal. ANd you can have twins that are from the same father that appear to be different races as well. It's all in the genetics and how they work, very complicated. There's even been a case that one baby, was half white and half black, you could actually see a line down the baby one side white, one side black, That happened because the two eggs fused together early in development.
2006-09-17 22:07:32 · answer #5 · answered by melashell 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes. Fraternal twins happen when the mom releases two different eggs. If you friend's is as loose as you say she is, one egg could have been fertilized by one man one night, then the other could have been fertilized by another the next night, or hour. As long as the eggs were fertilized around the same time, the half-siblings would happen.
2006-09-17 22:07:54 · answer #6 · answered by Amy 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Believe it or not..Its Possible... It was shown on the Maury Show within the last month... this lady had sex with 2 different men and one day apart... Maury said one twin belonged to this guy and one twin belonged to the other guy.. Shocking and I guess it will be hard to explain it to the kids one day... But its true and it can happen.. I guess you can always contact Maury and he will have both tested
2006-09-17 22:08:32 · answer #7 · answered by Lea 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's rare, but not completely unheard of. All fraternal means is two eggs, two sperm -- the babies wouldn't have to look like each other to be from the same dad in this case.
2006-09-17 22:07:18 · answer #8 · answered by tsopolly 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it is possible but unlikely. just because they are fraternal twins doesn't mean they have to look alike. it is the same as if they were just siblings.
2006-09-17 22:31:24 · answer #9 · answered by brandy1905 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
some answers you've received is incorrect. Yes it is possible and has happened. although rare. i have twins born on my twin brothers birthday and we had a mom that was a twin. We have 13 straight generations of twins. This web site explains alot. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/twins/expecting_twins.html
2006-09-17 22:21:26 · answer #10 · answered by gormom 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋