Question About My Twin and I?

Question

OK, so we are both in our 50's and I just wonder what everyone thought about this.

My twin and I were born 6 weeks premature. She was born first and I was breech. The doctor that delivered us was a "quack" and didn't really know if we were identical or not. We always assumed we were identical cause everyone got us confused.

She was born with a head full of hair and I was born with just a sprig on top. She was always about 5 lbs. heavier than I when we were growing up. We are very close but I just wonder. Do you think that we are identical or not?

Thanks for all the different and interesting answers. To answer a few unanswered questions: My mother and father both died a few years ago. They always said that we were identical.....

We live in different cities and actually different states but we are so close. I can't imagine not being identical. We have esp with each other and there are baby photos that no one can tell which is which.

When we grew up and married we would have to tell our parents who we were on the telephone as a voices are identical.

Answer 1

Absolutely no way to tell. My children had two placentas and we were told that they were identical after they were tested. Surprize there. Same thing with us. One had a birdsnest for hair the other a mohawk. LOL. You can sign up for twin testing in your area and get your swab done for free. They will ask you to fill out a few questionaires and maybe observe how you do something as opposed to your sister. You will get paid a small sum and you will get a free swab or you can go to a lab and have it done.
Also, they now believe that there might be a third type of twin. One where the egg splits first and then gets fertilized, so that they are 50% identical and 50% fraternal. Very fascinating subject..
I have just been reading the above answers and am amazed at how much misinformation is out there. Holy cow. First off you are not mirror image twins. If you were your cowlick would have gone one way and hers would have been a MIRROR IMAGE of that. So you are not mirror image. Mirror image twins occur when the zygote splits later in the pregnancy rather than earlier. Secondly, you could be born months apart, due to various crcumstances, so how long you were born apart again would hold no bearing. My identicals always lost teeth and grew teeth about a day apart, they walked a day apart, I t hought they looked totally different, but now when I look at their baby pictures I'll be damned if I know for sure who is who. Now one has menstruated for about 6 months now and the other has not. So obviously that has no bearing. ANd folks, although fraternal twins are no more genetically close than regular siblings they CAN look very very much alike. So alike that you can not tell them apart, jsut as easily as they can look like night and day. Also there have been a few cases of twins (fraternal of course) being fathered bu two different fathers as long as intercourse took place in a 24 hour period from eachother and two eggs were dropped. Amazing huh?

Answer 2

Can you ask your mother? The sure way to know if you were identical would be that you and your sister shared a placenta or were in the same amniotic bags.
50 years ago when you were born parents didn't ask questions of the doctor.
Do you know who the twins.......mary-kate & Ashley Olsen are?
They are not identical twins. They were faterinal twins, but looked so much alike that they passed as twins on their first TV show. The look so much alike.

Identical twins can variy in their look if in utero the one twin has less nutrution than the other gets, or if mother is in an accident and the baby in a certian position is the one that takes the hit. Or if one twin has a more dramatic birth than the other one there can be some differences.There are even life choices that can have identical twins vary in their appearences. If one twin smokes and the other doesn't. It one twin has some trauma physically and emotionally that would set that twin apart with illiness and disease . Food choices, educations choices and all sort of things can make one identical twin look a bit different than the other.

Check with the hospital and see if there is any inforomation there.

Ask relitives. Family friends.

You and your twin can have a chrosomal test done. You know to check to see if your DNA is identical. I think it would be worth it.

Answer 3

Well, the fact that you are both the same sex and look very alike is a pretty good indication that you are identical twins, it's not necessarily proof that you are, but it is more likely than not that you are identical. Fraternal twins can be of the same sex, but generally do not look at all identical. Fraternal twins are two seperate eggs fertalized by two seperate sperm, therefore they have different sets of dna. Identical twins are when an egg splits into two and keeps generating, causing the twins to share DNA, which is what makes them look so alike. Things like hair and weight don't really matter, just because the term is "identical" doesn't mean you are going to be exact clones of each other.

Answer 4

Do you LOOK identical? Example: same face shape, features.... identical twins have identical DNA. How much hair you have and metabolism are not entirely determined by DNA alone! The physiological difference between identical and fraternal (non-identical) twins is this: with identical twins, a single egg is fertilized and then for some reason (unknown natural phenomenon) the egg splits, so it has the same DNA but develops into separate embryos. Fraternal twins are conceived separately: for some reason, the mother's ovaries release multiple eggs, and they are fertilized by different sperm. They grow into separate embryos, but will be similar in appearance only as any siblings will be similar in appearance. They may look extremely similar, being the same age, thus causing confusion. So the answer to your question is, if in appearance (other than weight and amount of hair) you are identical, then yeah, you're identical twins. If you have different colored eyes or hair (naturally, not because of dye or sun exposure) or you have different noses, different face shapes, different handedness (right- or left-handed), if one of you can roll your tongue and once can't, or any other biological, genetic differences, then you are fraternal twins.

Answer 5

without a photo it might be impossible to tell...all siblings look similar,,nose eyes hair etc so the similarities are always going to tie you together. One twin will always be dominate in some aspects. Whether it weight or size. Identical can be in lots of other ways facial expressions will sometimes look like mirror images features can be the same. I'm curious did either of you experience the "twin connection'? Where one of you went through what ever the other one was doing? Did you share the same thoughts and language? Some do and they aren't always identical.
At 50 I'm sure you have had wonderful times together and I hope many more to come

Answer 6

To be identical twins you to have the same special pattern of antigens. This can only be determined by testing. It appears to be a simple test by doing a mouth swab much like a paternity test. Some companies offer testing you can do from home and mail in.

Answer 7

If you were identical you would have a "mirror" effect on your bodies. If you stood face to face and checked out the features on your bodies, are they the same on eac"opposite" side of your body? When you stand in front of your twin, is it like looking in the mirror? If your twin has a mole on their right cheek, do you have one on your left cheek? This is how to figure out if you are mirrored identical twins. If not and you have many differences (of course but you still look alike) then you are probably not.
There is no way of any of us on here knowing the truth, the only way to know is to get tested.
Good luck!

Answer 8

Have a DNA test done. If you are identical twins you will both have exactly the same DNA results. If you are paternal twins your DNA will still be close (because you both share the same parents) but there will be differences in the genetic sequence.

Answer 9

I have 7 year old twin daughters who were born at 32 weeks. If you and your sister were in the same sack together then you are identical .My older twin is taller and heavier than the other twin.

Answer 10

I'm a twin and I don't know if we are identical or not, but what does it matter? People will still tell you what they think you are anyway.