Confusion about twins?

Question

So i've heard both, do twins come from the fathers side of the family or the mothers? And which are genetic, fraternal or identical twins? I know one runs in the family and the other one is just a chance thing, I just don't know which ones which.

My fiance has twins in his family, his mom is a twin (fraternal I think) and theres some twins on his dads side too.

8 weeks and 3 days w/ baby #1

What do you think it is, boy or girl? lol Thanks

Answer 1

In order for there to be fraternal twins, the mother would have had to produce 2 eggs at the same time, so that they could both be present for fertilization and implantation at the same time. So fraternal (boy/girl twins) have to be in the mother's family.

Identical twins are not hereditary at all, but is simply an anomaly that occurs in about 3 of every 1000 births worldwide.

Gender of single babies is determined by the father and that's a 50/50 chance each time!

So there is a very small chance you could have identical twins.

Answer 2

The only time twins can be genetic is if there is a predisposition for women on the MOTHER's side to release more than one egg per month, thereby increases your chances of having two eggs fertilized, resulting in fraternal twins.

This trait simply cannot be passed on from the father, obviously (since your fiance's mother, grandmother, etc. couldn't have possibly passed this specific trait on to YOU), so your fiance's family history plays absolutely no role here. ;)

From personal experience, my own husband's family drove us nuts with just such misinformation each time we've been expecting. There are plenty of fraternal twins on his side of the family, and no matter how many times we explained to them that the tendency for HIS relatives to release more than one egg could in no way be inherited by me, his wife, they ignorantly insisted that it "ran in the family" and implied that it must mean my husband carried some sort of family "super sperm." Um, no. LOL

Along those same lines, identical twins are simply a random act of fate, where a single fertilized egg splits into two. No real genetic role in that ... just an unpredictable fluke, really.

Hope that helps. ;)

Answer 3

Well about the twins thing I can comfirm for you that identical twins are genetic and fraternal are not. I am a twin (identical) myself and always thought that it went every second generation on the mothers side. After having a long chat with my science teacher about this topic she imformed me that it is not at all anything to do with second generations on ONLY one side of the family. From what I gathered from her it has something to do with the right number of genetics on both sides and this is hard to work out. The only thing you can guess is that if you do have twins in your family you have a chance of having them yourself. I no sorry its not that much help. And as for the gender thing same genetics thing applies. Anyway hope this has been a bit of help and good luck with the baby!

Answer 4

Fraternal is genetic and it comes from the X gene (not always the mothers, sometimes from your dad too. men have XY and women have XX so women are more likely to carry it) but if the woman pregnant does not have the gene to make her ovulate more than one egg naturally, then there is only a 1-3% chance of having twins.

Identical twins are the draw of a hat.

IF YOU are pregnant, there is little chance you will have fraternal twins because you don't have fraternal twins in your family.

Answer 5

Fraternal twins are genetic, they come from the mother's side. Identical twins are just change. In both cases the father determines the sex(s).

Answer 6

I am an identical twin and to my mother's knowledge she doesn't have any twins on her side of the family. My father who was 6th born was not a twin but his mother was an identical twin.

Not sure if it depends on the history but the other factors that lay in are: 1) maternal age-usually the older the more likely you are to conceive multiples, 2) how many other children or pregnancies do you have, the more you have the likelier you are to have multiples, 3) ethnicity - black women have higher percentages of twins and 4) invitro fertilization.

Answer 7

Twins are resulting from two different occurences;
Fraternal Twins are two seperate fertalized eggs with different genetic signatures (DNA)
Identical Twins are created in the process of mytosis (cell splitiing and replication) in initial stages the cell splits into two identical fetuses and subsequent splitting and replication occurs for each independent child but both originate from same zygote. (identical twins, genetically speaking the same DNA signature)
Fraternal Twins are more chance with trends in matralineal lines and from use of some fertility drugs.

Answer 8

Twins run on the mother's side of the family. Second generation usually second child!

Grandmother's mom is a twin, her daughter (my mother) had twin girls!!! As she was the first child "we were" the second / and "third".

As far as what your having...that comes strickly from daddy! Look at his family history...if there are more boys, then more than likely your having a boy...but honestly it's a 50/50 shot! Congrats!!!!!!

Answer 9

Ask the only on the left if a million+a million equals 2. If he solutions sure, he's Rajesh, in any different case he's Rakesh. Any question that the two you and the twin know the hassle-free answer to may well be utilized.

Answer 10

Mother's side. Gender is determined by the father, and it's not genetic. It's just chance.

Women's eggs either come out in pairs (fraternal) or one egg splits (identical).