Twins question

peacelove&mama · June 2012

I had always read/heard twins come from the maternal side only, so if a woman has twins in her family, she could possibly end up carrying twins.

My belly is growing pretty rapidly, and although I don't have ANY twins on my side of the family whatsoever, it has been prompting a lot of people to say that having twins can come from the paternal side too (DH is an identical twin).

Is it possible for twins to be passed down from dads side?

MrsT1108 · June 2012

Don't quote me on this, but I have a cousin who is a RN, my other cousin (her brother) and his wife just found out they are having twins (my 2 cousins are twins, his wife's side has no history of twins, our side does), and she said despite what people get told or hear, the paternal side does in fact play a role in twins.
With my family, with the exception of my cousin, it skipped generations. I only know as far back as my great-grandfather, he had a twin brother, neither my grandfather or his sister had twins, my aunt had twins (my 2 cousins) and now my cousin + his wife are having twins (he being a twin I guess was more likely to have it happen).

crystal8503 · June 2012

Have you not had an ultrasound yet and that's why you're asking this?

kerribear1717 · June 2012

I think some of it is genetic but also isn't it just chance as well?

ClarissaExplainsItAll · June 2012

kerribear1717:
I think some of it is genetic but also isn't it just chance as well?

Identical twins are a fluke. There is no medical research proving that there is any genetic relation. Fraternal twins are genetic maternally because the woman releases 2 eggs in the same cycle. There is no relation to a father's genetics and twins.

crystal8503 · June 2012

From what I have always been told, fraternal twins can be a genetic thing but identical twins is an isolated incidence because it requires everything to divide one too many times, which creates the identical babies.

LadyNikon · June 2012

here is another curve ball for ya..

twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.

They told me it was because I was old and black.

JenniatONU · June 2012

ClarissaExplainsItAll:
kerribear1717:
I think some of it is genetic but also isn't it just chance as well?

Identical twins are a fluke. There is no medical research proving that there is any genetic relation. Fraternal twins are genetic maternally because the woman releases 2 eggs in the same cycle. There is no relation to a father's genetics and twins.

This.

peacelove&mama · June 2012

No, I haven't had an ultrasound yet. I haven't even gone for my first prenatal appt yet! I don't think I'm having twins, if anything maybe just another big baby like DS, I was just curious. I don't know a whole lot about it but I'd always heard it came from the mothers side only. Never knew about the identical twins thing though, and I'm guessing all the family members that keep bugging about me having them don't know either.

ClarissaExplainsItAll · June 2012

JenniatONU:
ClarissaExplainsItAll:
kerribear1717:
I think some of it is genetic but also isn't it just chance as well?

Identical twins are a fluke. There is no medical research proving that there is any genetic relation. Fraternal twins are genetic maternally because the woman releases 2 eggs in the same cycle. There is no relation to a father's genetics and twins.
This.

I haz da smartz.

Just kidding, I'm a Biology and Biochemistry double major. I know my cells.

crystal8503 · June 2012

Ladynikon:
here is another curve ball for ya..
twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.
They told me it was because I was old and black.

Are your twins identical? If so, it doesn't matter the reason because there really isn't one. The cell divided one too many times. It's purely luck. I don't know why they said it's because you are old and black. That seems like a ridiculous and uneducated guess on the doctor's part.

ClarissaExplainsItAll · June 2012

crystal8503:
Ladynikon:
here is another curve ball for ya..
twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.
They told me it was because I was old and black.
Are your twins identical? If so, it doesn't matter the reason because there really isn't one. The cell divided one too many times. It's purely luck. I don't know why they said it's because you are old and black. That seems like a ridiculous and uneducated guess on the doctor's part.

If they are fraternal, it actually has a lot to do with it. Generally, older women will release more eggs in the same cycle. Same goes for AA women. So mixing the 2 together actually makes for twice as nice!

JenniatONU · June 2012

ClarissaExplainsItAll:
crystal8503:
Ladynikon:
here is another curve ball for ya..
twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.
They told me it was because I was old and black.
Are your twins identical? If so, it doesn't matter the reason because there really isn't one. The cell divided one too many times. It's purely luck. I don't know why they said it's because you are old and black. That seems like a ridiculous and uneducated guess on the doctor's part.

If they are fraternal, it actually has a lot to do with it. Generally, older women will release more eggs in the same cycle. Same goes for AA women. So mixing the 2 together actually makes for twice as nice!

Clarissa, she did specifically ask about identical, not fraternal.

ClarissaExplainsItAll · June 2012

Whoooooopsie! My bad. I have a headache. Don't judge me.

LadyNikon · June 2012

crystal8503:
Ladynikon:
here is another curve ball for ya..
twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.
They told me it was because I was old and black.
Are your twins identical? If so, it doesn't matter the reason because there really isn't one. The cell divided one too many times. It's purely luck. I don't know why they said it's because you are old and black. That seems like a ridiculous and uneducated guess on the doctor's part.

I don't know if they are identical or not. After 30 your chances of having twins go up. Also black people have a higher chance of having twins.

Laur816 · June 2012

Has your OB said anything about your uterus measuring big or anything? When is your first US?

Identical twins are known to be a fluke. Fraternal twins (mine are fraternal) are the result of the mother releasing 2 eggs which both get fertilized.

I measured very big when I was pregnant with twins. I looked like I was about to pop at about 22 weeks or so. I would see when you can get in for an US!

MeaganG11 · June 2012

peacelove&mama:
No, I haven't had an ultrasound yet. I haven't even gone for my first prenatal appt yet! I don't think I'm having twins, if anything maybe just another big baby like DS, I was just curious. I don't know a whole lot about it but I'd always heard it came from the mothers side only. Never knew about the identical twins thing though, and I'm guessing all the family members that keep bugging about me having them don't know either.

If this is your second pregnancy, you will start to show quicker than you did with your first.

crystal8503 · June 2012

ClarissaExplainsItAll:
crystal8503:
Ladynikon:
here is another curve ball for ya..
twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.
They told me it was because I was old and black.
Are your twins identical? If so, it doesn't matter the reason because there really isn't one. The cell divided one too many times. It's purely luck. I don't know why they said it's because you are old and black. That seems like a ridiculous and uneducated guess on the doctor's part.

If they are fraternal, it actually has a lot to do with it. Generally, older women will release more eggs in the same cycle. Same goes for AA women. So mixing the 2 together actually makes for twice as nice!

Yes, I know that is true but for some reason, I thought I remembered her saying she was expecting identical. I know older woman do release more eggs each month, which is why multiples can be more common but I didn't know that about AA women.

LuffJoo · June 2012

I was a twin and from what I understand, no, the dad plays no roll. The way it works is the moms genetics determine whether she a) releases 2 eggs at a time or b) has eggs that are likely to split. The dad can't determine this obviously since he doesn't have eggs. :P

Regardless of what daddy's genes do, there has to be 2 eggs or an egg that will split.

However, as another poster stated, mama doesn't need it in the history since sometimes its spontaneous whether you release 2 eggs or whether an egg splits.

You could have twins even if neither of you have any history whatsoever.

Congrats on your baby, whether theres one or two!

crystal8503 · June 2012

ClarissaExplainsItAll:
Whoooooopsie! My bad. I have a headache. Don't judge me.

Totally judged.

LuffJoo · June 2012

crystal8503:
Ladynikon:
here is another curve ball for ya..
twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.
They told me it was because I was old and black.
Are your twins identical? If so, it doesn't matter the reason because there really isn't one. The cell divided one too many times. It's purely luck. I don't know why they said it's because you are old and black. That seems like a ridiculous and uneducated guess on the doctor's part.

LOL I'd like to believe those weren't his/her exact words either. I could just imagine the look on my own face if it was phrased to me like that. It wouldn't be pretty.

LuffJoo · June 2012

crystal8503:
Ladynikon:
here is another curve ball for ya..
twins aren't on either side of my family but yet look at my ticker.
They told me it was because I was old and black.
Are your twins identical? If so, it doesn't matter the reason because there really isn't one. The cell divided one too many times. It's purely luck. I don't know why they said it's because you are old and black. That seems like a ridiculous and uneducated guess on the doctor's part.

LOL I'd like to believe those weren't his/her exact words either. I could just imagine the look on my own face if it was phrased to me like that. It wouldn't be pretty.

LadyNikon · June 2012

nah she didn't. She said advanced maternal age ( cause i will be 35 when the twins are born) and african american ( I don't use the term aa. Never been to africa)

LLK122207 · June 2012

Ladynikon:
nah she didn't. She said advanced maternal age ( cause i will be 35 when the twins are born) and african american ( I don't use the term aa. Never been to africa)

I know you might not be trying to be funny but I couldn't help but laugh by your wording!!

Like PPs have said the father plays no role. I'm having mono/mono which is not hereditary.

klink11 · June 2012

ClarissaExplainsItAll:
kerribear1717:
I think some of it is genetic but also isn't it just chance as well?

Identical twins are a fluke. There is no medical research proving that there is any genetic relation. Fraternal twins are genetic maternally because the woman releases 2 eggs in the same cycle. There is no relation to a father's genetics and twins.

This exactly.

TinyTRex321 · June 2012

So to add some confusion a father can pass on a twin gene. A dad has no effect on if his own kids are twins but if a fraternal twins run in a males family then he can pass the hyper ovulation gene on to his daughter which could result in his daughter having fraternal twins. That's where the whole "twins skip a generation" comes from.

ETA - it's explained better here and here

jimmie48fan · June 2012

We have twins on my mom's side like a thousand years ago, and my MIL is a twin. With our first I was worried about it being twins....terrified actually. The ultrasound tech said that twins have to come from the female side. So I was relieved that it was one. This time around to my surprise it was twins, and the tech and the doctor said that it only comes from the females side so my MIL has no contribution to it at all. My sister had twins a year ago. We think its because we aren't young anymore and we are releasing more then one egg at a time.

Hope this helps

Robin

JenniatONU · June 2012

TinyTRex321:
So to add some confusion a father can pass on a twin gene. A dad has no effect on if his own kids are twins but if a fraternal twins run in a males family then he can pass the hyper ovulation gene on to his daughter which could result in his daughter having fraternal twins. That's where the whole "twins skip a generation" comes from.
ETA - it's explained better here and here

This is true. I think most people myself included, just say that males don't pass it because most people here wonder if they can get pregnant with twins from their DH's side of the family.

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