8 Trivia About Twins

You’ve certainly met twin babies and found it difficult to tell them apart. According to statistics,  three out of every thousand pregnancies are with identical twins. These are the result of a zygote that at a very early stage divides, generating two identical babies, even with the same DNA. There are many myths and trivia about twins, so we want to tell you some data that you might not know.

It is important to note that fraternal and fraternal twins are not the same thing. “Identical” twins, identical in one yolk, share most of the genetic material, due to the fact that they were both born from the same fertilized egg and split in two after conception. Whereas fraternal eggs are born from two or more different eggs fertilized in the same hormonal cycle.

Trivia about twins

During the last decade,  the cases of twins and triplets have increased considerably, mainly due to assisted fertilization   and other types of medical treatments that help to get pregnant. In these processes you do not get identical twins, as it is something that can only happen naturally. There are many interesting data and trivia about the twins, below we will introduce you to some:

1. They have different fingerprints

When we see two totally identical children, we might think they have the same fingerprints, but that’s not true. When babies are forming, according to the American newspaper Huffington Post,  both, separately, touch the amniotic sac in different places, and this causes different lines to form on their fingers  and therefore do not have the same fingerprints .

Also, one of the curiosities about twins is the fact that  22% of identical twins are left-handed  compared to only 10% of the total population.

 2. Not as identical as they seem

According to statistics, twins are literally “one another’s reflections.” 25% of children develop as if they were facing each other, that is, if one is left-handed, the other is right-handed. If, for example, one of the children has a birthmark on the right arm, the other will have the same birthmark, but on the left arm. Identical twins share brain and thought patterns.

3. Twins don’t have telepathic powers

Many people think that twins have this kind of superpower or that they have a different ability to communicate with each other, but that’s not the case. As Discovery points out,  this is just a myth that has been pervasive over the years.

It has never been proven that siblings are mentally connected in any special or different way. As both grow up together, it is very normal that they know each other perfectly,  which makes this belief take much more strength and spread.

4. The case of the “Jim twins”

These identical Minnesota brothers were separated four weeks after their birth. Both were adopted by different families and met when they were 39 years old. Their story was published in Nancy Segal’s book  Entwined Lives .

Even though they grew up  without any kind of interaction, they both measured and weighed the same. As for their tastes, they both shared the same favorite Florida beach, were good at math, and shared hobbies like carpentry and mechanical drawing.

5. Twins make contact in utero

According to a survey carried out by the University of Padova in Italy,  twins seek to have contact when they are inside the mother’s womb  and even touch their twin more than themselves. In the cases that were studied, this happened from the fourteenth week onwards. According to statistics, Siamese twins represent 1 of every 200,000 pregnancies.

6. Have their own language

This happens as a consequence of children growing up together, as well as when it is claimed that they have the ability to communicate mentally. But, in reality,  this language can also occur in siblings who are not twins,  mainly because they live together since they are very young.

This practice starts since children are learning to speak, so they both help each other in this process. This is strengthened by the fact that they  are very united and even end up inventing their own words,  which was often considered as their own and exclusive language.

7. Do not fully share genetic material

Although they may look completely identical, it is not .  They share much of their genetic material, but not 100%,  as is often speculated. According to a research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, some part of your DNA may differ in the number of genes that are formed. To be considered totally equal, they would have to share 100% of the genes and not just be born simultaneously, according to Discovery.

8. Not hereditary

This is another of the many myths that revolve around the “identical” brothers. There is still no scientific proof that this is a hereditary issue.

What is genetic is the ability to have twins.  If there is any case of twins in the family, it is very likely that others can be born. This is due to a consequence of super fertilization, which makes the woman able to release more than one egg during the same cycle.

Other fun facts about the twins

• Women who have twins live longer.
• 25% of twins have the “mirror appearance”.
• They begin to physically differentiate themselves over the years.
• There are cases of identical infants.
• Eating more dairy increases your chances of having twins

There are many myths that do not fit the reality of “identical” siblings. Even though we can prove some, a lot of data still remains a mystery. What can be distinguished from them is that they are united by a strong bond that helps them to develop learning and support each other in growth.