A Knowledge Drop
Probably not hard to believe, but the #1 question we get asked when we’re out with Wes and Judah is: “Are they identical?” Typically, our answer immediately elicits the follow up question: “Are you sure?” Along with the declaration: “They look just alike!”
On the surface there’s nothing wrong with these questions. We generally interpret them as signs of warm intentions and delighted curiosity. But beneath the surface (under our skin) these questions are annoying. The song and dance of saying – No; then, Yes, we’re sure; and finally, We just can, we’re they’re parents – grows tiresome when it happens 3 times in as many Harlem blocks.
But we are gracious, and make an effort to appreciate the fact that often people are genuinely joyous at the birth of these healthy boys and, I think, at what we represent – a traditional Black family. (More on that in a future post).
Sometimes though, we end up having a bit of a back and forth with a person who can’t seem to accept that Judah and West aren’t identical. In fact, recently, we met a father of twin girls, much older than our sons. The conversation turned scientific, with he and Scott trading conflicting facts about how twins are conceived.
“The twin trait is passed through the father’s side,” the man said.
“No, it’s the mother.”
“Identical twins have to share a placenta,” he said.
“Our boys didn’t share a placenta, but identical twins can be in separate placenta too.”
And so on.
I went silent.
No shade to my dear husband, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure who was right.
I knew from my obstetrician that Wes and Judah weren’t identical. But as I tried to remember specific whys and hows, the details were fuzzy.
I should know this! I admonished myself. I need to do my research. I can’t be caught off-guard by a know-it-all passerby as I make my way to 125th for Starbucks. (Iced quad in a venti cup with 2 pumps of vanilla syrup. Whole milk on the side).
So, I Google’d ‘what makes twins identical’. After about 45 minutes down the internet link rabbit hole, and few hilarious twin videos later, I found some answers.
Fraternal twins are called dizygotic twins. Zygote=egg, di = two. This basically means there are two eggs, and each is fertilized by a separate sperm, resulting in two babies. I recall by doctor saying that our boys were Di-Di twins. Ok, got it.
Identical twins are called monozygotic. Mono = one. Identical twins come from a single egg that is fertilized by one sperm and then splits into two. Since the two eggs share the exact same genetic information (DNA), the children are also exactly the same. They can be in separate placentas, though often they share. Either way, doesn’t change their identical-ness – it’s the single egg that counts.
But because fraternal twins come from two separate eggs, the two embryos don’t share DNA – at least not the exact same. They’ll also always have separate placentas. Fraternal twins are really just siblings who happen to have been conceived at the same time. There’s no genetic reason they’d be any more alike than normal siblings, in terms of looks, personality or anything else.
Now, before you start thinking that Wes and Judah ain’t special, here’s a fun fact:
The gossip among scientists is that there may be a third type of twin, called semi-identical. They think this happens when TWO sperm fertilize ONE egg that that then splits in two. This is super rare. In fact, there’s only one known case.
These twins did have some generic abnormalities, which, thank God, Wes and Judah do not. BUT, some scientists suggest this may happen more than we think, and could lead to healthy babies.
The result would be twins that could look identical, but only share around 75% of DNA, instead of 100% that identical twins share, or the 50% that fraternal twins share.
So, here’s to Wes & Judah, (perhaps) changing the game yet again.
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