True or False? 9 Beliefs Associated With Twins

There’s a lot of mystery linked with twin children especially in this part of the world. While some of them are surprisingly true, the others are mostly unfounded.

Here is a list of popular beliefs about twins and how authentic they are

1. Identical twins can run in families.

False!

Actually it is fraternal twins  that can run in families. This is because fraternal twins develop when a woman’s ovaries release more than one egg during her cycle, and the tendency could actually be found in the genes. Identical twins, on the other hand, come from the same egg, and that spontaneous splitting is considered a random occurrence, and your genes probably have nothing to do with it.

 2. Twins skip a generation.

False!

Yes, fraternal twins can run in families, but there’s no evidence that it matters which generation you’re in. If you have a parent who’s a fraternal twin, there’s still a chance you can have twin babies.

3. Identical twins have identical DNA.

False!

Well, kind of. Identical twins share about 99.999999 percent of their DNA — not quite 100 percent — which is why the twins you know probably have some differences, like a mole or birthmark. Researchers have even found an identical twin who carried a gene for a certain disease, which his twin didn’t. Differences between twins can increase over time as a result of environmental factors, and genes can even change slightly (who knew?).

4. Twins have the same fingerprints.

False!

Fingerprints actually get created in uterus and vary based on a baby’s contact with amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord and other womby stuff. So every single person’s fingerprints are different — even if they’re an identical twin.

5. Animals can tell identical twins apart even when people can’t.

True!

I’m sure you were thinking this would be false but alas!

In one study, highly trained police dogs were able to sniff out the difference between identical twins, even when they lived in the same place and presumably were exposed to all the same smells. How did they do it? No one really knows!

6. Girl/boy twins are always fraternal.

True.

Since identical twins come from the same egg, they’re always the same gender. So any boy/girl twins you know are, indeed, fraternal.

7. ALL Identical twins look identical

False!

Surprised right? Not all twins who don’t look exactly the same are fraternal. Sometimes identical twins who indeed split from the exact same fertilized egg have different features that could make them look slightly or completely different from each other. They could even have different skin tones!

8. Twins communicate telepathically

Well, we really can not say.

No one has proven definitively that twins can or can’t communicate telepathically with each other, but many twins have claimed they’ve felt upset or anxious when their twin was in trouble, far across the country. And twins have been known to develop their own language that only the two of them understand. There’s just something special about the connection between twins.

9. Moms of twins live longer.

True!

A study found that women who naturally conceived and gave birth to twins had a lower risk of dying each year after age 50 than those who had just one baby at a time. And nope, it’s not because of all that extra cardio from chasing around two babies. Researchers say that these women’s “innate healthiness” actually made them more likely to conceive, carry and deliver twins.