Maybe ignorant frat/ID question

BananaPancake · August 2012

So a friend of mine has g/g twins swho are strikingly similar. She told us a long time ago that her doctor said that they were fraternal as they had separate sacs. Well clearly NOW I know that they could very well be ID, but she refuses to believe that they could be. I'm not telling her to go get them tested or anything, because I really don't care THAT much, but for my own education as far as having "probably fraternal" twins, this brings up all sorts of interesting questions for me.

My question is, could they still be fraternal looking 110% ID? I mean, I know many sets of twins and not even the ID twins I know look as ID as these girls. Is it possible that they actually are fraternal and just happen to look eerily ID? And if mine are fraternal, is it possible to have them still look for similar that people can't tell them apart? This may be a very obvious answer, but I'm just wondering!

pea-kay · August 2012

The Olsen twins are supposedly fraternal, and I think they look exactly alike. And think of siblings that look alike. It could happen. But her twins could very well be identical.

Rynleigh · August 2012

It goes both ways... different genes can be expressed differently in ID twins, so you can have ID twins who have very individual looks or characteristics... you can also have fraternal twins who look like spitting images of each other (example, Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen are fraternal twins - but they resemble each other so closely that they've had no problem swapping roles or playing IDs their whole life).

Only 30% of ID twins are di/di, so if she did have di/di, her chances of having fraternals is pretty high. I'm going to have mine tested if they are the same sex and have the same blood type, just so that I know for medical reasons... but not everyone wants to go through the hassle or cost of having the test done. If her girls have different blood types, that's a pretty quick way to settle the question.

chickaboo1974 · August 2012

I have triplet cousins. They have always looked ID. They decided to be tested- there is a set of ID twins and a fraternal triplet.... now I could not tell you by looking at them who is the frat.

BananaPancake · August 2012

So weird! DH and I are both A+ and all of our girls are, as well. Are the boys going to have A+? Is it possible to get an O, or do A+s only produce A+s? I have NO idea how that works.

chickaboo1974 · August 2012

BananaPancake:
So weird! DH and I are both A+ and all of our girls are, as well. Are the boys going to have A+? Is it possible to get an O, or do A+s only produce A+s? I have NO idea how that works.

Blood types are not as simple as two A parents produce A only children. From how I understand that yes it is possible for two A parents to have a O child. My parents are both B+ and two of my siblings are O+.

Jen0204 · August 2012

Like others have said, they could be fraternal. I definitely wouldn't push the issue with her. It can't get annoying when people try to convince you one way or the other.

Rynleigh · August 2012

BananaPancake:
So weird! DH and I are both A+ and all of our girls are, as well. Are the boys going to have A+? Is it possible to get an O, or do A+s only produce A+s? I have NO idea how that works.

Your blood type is made up of two letter components.. as As, you guys could each be either AA or AO. If you are BOTH AO, you can have type AA babies (A from each parent), AO babies (A from one parent and O from the other), or type O babies (O from both parents). If one or both of you are type AA, you will only have A babies (AA or AO), because A always dominates O (the only way to get type O is via one O from each parent).

The Rh (+ or -) grouping system is a little different - it's a test to see whether you carry the Rh factor or not. People who do have the Rh factor are +, people who don't are -

Both of you being + means high probability that all of your children will be +, but there is a chance of a recessive gene without the Rh factor allowing a child to be born -. If you were both -, neither of you would have an Rh factor to give off, and all of your children would have to be -. If you were + and your husband was -, you could have either/or depending on whether you also have the - recessive...

lol I hope that wasn't too confusing..

Temp123197812503460 · August 2012

So are the Olsen twins really frats or were they just di/di and someone told their mom that they are frats?

BananaPancake · August 2012

Rynleigh:
BananaPancake:
So weird! DH and I are both A+ and all of our girls are, as well. Are the boys going to have A+? Is it possible to get an O, or do A+s only produce A+s? I have NO idea how that works.
Your blood type is made up of two letter components.. as As, you guys could each be either AA or AO. If you are BOTH AO, you can have type AA babies (A from each parent), AO babies (A from one parent and O from the other), or type O babies (O from both parents). If one or both of you are type AA, you will only have A babies (AA or AO), because A always dominates O (the only way to get type O is via one O from each parent).
The Rh (+ or -) grouping system is a little different - it's a test to see whether you carry the Rh factor or not. People who do have the Rh factor are +, people who don't are -
Both of you being + means high probability that all of your children will be +, but there is a chance of a recessive gene without the Rh factor allowing a child to be born -. If you were both -, neither of you would have an Rh factor to give off, and all of your children would have to be -. If you were + and your husband was -, you could have either/or depending on whether you also have the - recessive...
lol I hope that wasn't too confusing..

You are always so full of knowledge! That makes total sense! Thanks!

Rynleigh · August 2012

BananaPancake:

You are always so full of knowledge! That makes total sense! Thanks!

lmao I just spend a lot of time reading to combat my anxiety. Blood types interest me because our huge family of seven has a wide variety, so I started learning about it early on. My dad is AB+ with a - recessive, and my mother is OO- .... my sister and I came out B-, which means my dad gave us a B and the recessive, my mother gave us O and the recessive - so we can determine that we're both BO- and can give off B or O to our kids. My three brothers are B+, A+, and A-

If my parents had twins we would have had a good solid chance of fraternals each having their own blood type lol

macchiatto · August 2012

somewhereincali:
So are the Olsen twins really frats or were they just di/di and someone told their mom that they are frats?

I wonder that, too.

macchiatto · August 2012

accidental double-post

mjmarovi · August 2012

My doctor told us if they are fraternal and same sex there is still a chance they could be identical due to it depends on when concieved. Even with seperate sacs is just depends on how it all went down. It is crazy how even in seperate sacs they could end up the same. No matter what it is good to know how identical they are for health and medical reasons.

Temp123197812503460 · August 2012

"We were just told by the doctors" that the girls were fraternal, says their dad, Dave Olsen, when reached today by phone. "We never thought about it much. They are good kids.")This is a quote from this article. They must be di/di identicals no?https://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/08/24/mary_kate_and_ashley_olsen_can_you_tell_them_apart_.html

macchiatto · August 2012

mjmarovi:
My doctor told us if they are fraternal and same sex there is still a chance they could be identical due to it depends on when concieved. Even with seperate sacs is just depends on how it all went down. It is crazy how even in seperate sacs they could end up the same. No matter what it is good to know how identical they are for health and medical reasons.

Um ... what do you mean that if they are "fraternal and same sex there is still a chance they could be identical" ... do you mean di/di and same sex? 1 in 3 sets of ID twins is di/di, so it's definitely possible. Though sometimes you can tell just by looking at them (or by them having different blood types) that it's not the case!

MelleTX · August 2012

I think about this a lot too. I am 99.9% sure the girls I am carrying are fraternal, but part of me wonders if they couldn't be identical.

I did IVF, transferred two 5 day embryos and have two babies growing so logic says fraternal.

But, part of me keeps thinking about my low betas and the 5w ultrasound that showed 1 tiny spot, but then at 7 weeks I had two babies - one measuring a week behind. My RE said she was a late implanter, but I kind of wonder if it wasn't a late split. But then if it were a late split, wouldn't they be more likely to be in the same sac?

I don't know. I still say fraternal, but I am really interested to see what they look like when born. My guess is they will look enough a like just to keep me guessing.

kiwi443 · August 2012

I have found that a lot of MoMs and multiples themselves have been given incorrect information about how to determine the differences between ID and frat. I'm always torn about how much to say when a mom says, "Yeah, the doctor told me they are fraternal because they had separate placentas."

My husband has twin cousins who are in their 20s, they look so clearly ID, have the same blood type, etc. but were told they're fraternal. I told them the only way to know is to get tested and they are both so intrigued. They may do it.

I don't want to be this big know-it-all, but if I had been told the wrong thing, I'd want to know. Anyone else run into this a lot?

Rangergal9 · August 2012

We actually just had my twins tested and the results came back identical. Like your frend's twins my girls were also di/di. Early on they looked less similar (one had more hair) but recently we can barely tell who is who in pictures. Every stranger assumed they were identical. So we finally had them tested and yup they are identical. I am relieved to know they are identical since even I have a hard time telling them apart!! My OB also assumed they were fraternal from the beginning, I can't wait to tell her they are ID!

My OB did mention they could be ID since they were the same sex. Basically she said something like if the fertilized egg splits days 1-3 they will be di/di, days 4-6 mo/di or mo/mo, and after that conjoined. So basically it just has to do with how quickly the egg splits.

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