Did you hear that boy/girl twins CAN BE IDENTICAL???

Question

I never thought it could be true, but I have been doing research after seeing it on National Geographics In the Womb Mulitples and sure enough there are lots of articles about how in RARE cases there are xxy's that split into xx and xy.

I have identical twin girls and am fasinated by the possiblity that there could be identical twin boy/girl.
http://www.twinsmagazine.com/facts.html & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin

Both have information about this. Has anyone else seen or heard about this?

Answer 1

It is extremeeeeely rare but happens when there was an extra chromosome present when the split occurred. They are still identical- as they split from the same egg... however one takes the extra chromosome with it and you get Boy/Girl twinning. Amazing... I know- and extremellllllllllllly rare. Such rare twinning was explained in National Geographics "in the womb"- http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/channel/inthewomb/

Its almost an impossibility.... ALMOST.... there has only been 3 documented cases since 1993 that I am aware of.

Answer 2

I don't look at wikipedia as a factual source of ANY kind of information. It is not an encyclopedia, as it's sources are simply people from all over the web...not necessarily knowledgeable in the topics they post on. wikipedia isn't much more than the tabloids you see at the grocery store check out. And twins magazine...not necessarily a factual source of information either. As far as I'm concerned a male child and a female child can't be IDENTICAL as one has a penis and the other has a vagina...if they were identical either BOTH would have a penis or BOTH would have a vagina and BOTH would be male or BOTH would be female. To be identical they would have to come from the same source, and although they come from the same father they obviously came from different sperm carrying different sex chromosomes, this difference is even sited in the article from twins magazine...Therefore they are not TRULY identical if there is a difference in chromosomes. If they ARE identical then they would be hemaphrodites having both male AND female genitalia.

Answer 3

I dont know if its ever happened but I think anything is possible. When i took a class along time ago my teacher had bought up the news. This lady had given birth to twin babies at the same time. They had two different fathers. We didnt think it was possible. If this can happen imagine all of the other possibilities.

Answer 4

I was totally surprised when I saw that bit of info on that show, too. I would have bet a million dollars that it was impossible until they explained it. I had never heard of it before the In the Womb show, but I guess we will be one of the rare few who will be able the answer that question on Jeopardy! some day.

Answer 5

Interesting. I haven't heard of this. It would seem that the cause of an XXY embryo would be 2 sperm an 1 egg to begin w/. Normally that would result in birth defects or be fatal, I'd think. Wonder if splitting would be nature's way of dealing w/ the birth defects. Hmm.

Answer 6

Yeah I have seen it. There was a boy and a girl I went to school with and they literally were identical for EVERYTHING except their sex. They say its because the sex organs are not determined from birth and they develop the sex organs later on in pregnancy but the apperence makeup is already set from when they are concieved.

Answer 7

Hi - Saw the same show (I have twin boys-fraternal).

I didn't think it was possible (boy/girl identical) but apparently it is.

Don't know of any though :)

Answer 8

They wouldn't be "identical" if one was a boy & one a girl. That's opposite. Not the same. CAN'T HAPPEN.

Answer 9

No I have boy / girl fraternal twins I was told that you couldnt and how can they be identical when they have different private parts.

Answer 10

That is not possible.