Science boldy tells us that identical twins don't run in families. But ask any family with identical twins and more than likely there are other sets of identical twins. Science also tells us that the twin gene can't come from the father's side. But I disagree. Fraternal twins - when two eggs are released and fertilized - come from the mom's side, but it only seems logical to me that identical twins - when the fertilized egg splits - would come from the father (ahem, the sperm!) I'm not a scientist, nor am I a trained in genetics, biology or any other related field. My degree is in business, and from that I accredit an analytical grasp of logic. ;-)
My mother-in-law is an identical twin. And my father-in-law has identical twin brothers. Even more intriguing is that my mother-in-law is a "mirror twin", as are my daughters. The most common trait of mirror twins is opposite handedness (My MIL is left handed and her sister is right handed). Dental growth and problems can occur on opposite sides. According to some sources, in rare cases, mirror twins can have organs on opposite sides of the body.
Just like looking in a mirror.
I've mentioned in a prior post that my girls are quite distinguishable from each other, but the other day, I saw Jaeda's face in the mirror behind me only to turn around and realize it was Tristyn.
What creeps me out about this is that the generally accepted timeline is that non-mirror identical twins' egg splits in the first week, mirror twins in the second week and conjoined twins in the third week. How closely did the sometimes truculent fate come to drastically altering my mommy experience?
As it were, my life WAS drastically altered in week 16 of my pregnancy, when I was told there were two in there.
Recently, I heard from a client that an associate was pregnant with identical twin girls and we discussed the potential health concerns that accompany an identical twin pregnancy (of which I was spared mostly due to the nature of the girls' arrangement in utero). There's a special place in my heart for mothers of twins, and identical twin girls especially.
We spoke a few days later and she told me the twins had both died, which was probably "for the best"...because they were conjoined.
A chill ran up my spine because I am so lucky to have these perfectly formed, and separate (but similar) beings to call my daughters.
Just like looking in a mirror.
I've mentioned in a prior post that my girls are quite distinguishable from each other, but the other day, I saw Jaeda's face in the mirror behind me only to turn around and realize it was Tristyn.
What creeps me out about this is that the generally accepted timeline is that non-mirror identical twins' egg splits in the first week, mirror twins in the second week and conjoined twins in the third week. How closely did the sometimes truculent fate come to drastically altering my mommy experience?
As it were, my life WAS drastically altered in week 16 of my pregnancy, when I was told there were two in there.
Recently, I heard from a client that an associate was pregnant with identical twin girls and we discussed the potential health concerns that accompany an identical twin pregnancy (of which I was spared mostly due to the nature of the girls' arrangement in utero). There's a special place in my heart for mothers of twins, and identical twin girls especially.
We spoke a few days later and she told me the twins had both died, which was probably "for the best"...because they were conjoined.
A chill ran up my spine because I am so lucky to have these perfectly formed, and separate (but similar) beings to call my daughters.
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