Can any woman have identical twins?

The chances of having identical twins is relatively rare — around 3 or 4 in every 1,000 births. And while it may be obvious, identical twins are always the same sex, either both boys or both girls, at birth. Why? Well, they don’t just look alike — they also share the exact same DNA.

Can identical twins be different?

Yes! Identical twins came from the same sperm and egg, so they have the same chromosomes and genes. So identical twins with identical DNA may have different genes turned on, causing them to look and act differently, and even to develop different diseases such as cancer.

How rare is it to have a boy and girl twin?

Boy-girl twins are the most common kind of dizygotic twins, occurring 50% of the time. Girl-girl twins are the second most common occurrence. Boy-boy twins are the least common.

Do twins come from Mom or Dad?

For a given pregnancy, the odds of conceiving fraternal twins are only determined by the mother’s genetics, not the father’s. Fraternal twins happen when two eggs are simultaneously fertilised instead of just one.

Can 1 identical twin have autism?

Studies in identical twins have shown that autism has a strong genetic basis: If one identical twin has autism, the other one has it, too, as much as 90 percent of the time. The new work supports these estimates: In 64 of the 78 twin pairs, both twins have an autism diagnosis.

What is the rarest kind of twins?

Monoamniotic-monochorionic Twins This is the rarest type of twin, and it means a riskier pregnancy as the babies can get tangled in their own umbilical cords.

Who is more likely to have twins?

According to the Office on Women’s Health, women who are aged 30 years or older are more likely to conceive twins. The reason for this is that women of this age are more likely than younger women to release more than one egg during their reproductive cycle.

Can fraternal twins be the same sex?

Let’s Talk About Sex. While identical twins are always born with the same sex, fraternal twins can be same sex or one of each. A baby’s sex is determined by the father’s sperm: the XY chromosomal combination will result in a boy and the XX chromosomal combination will result in a girl.

Are identical twins the same gender?

Research shows, “Identical (mono-zygotic) twins are always of the same sex because they form from a single zygote (fertilized egg) that contains either male (XY) or female (XX) sex chromosomes”.

Why do fraternal twins look different?

Fraternal twins can be different genders because they are two completely different eggs getting fertilized; but even two same gender fraternal twins do not look completely alike. Whereas for identical twins since one egg is splitting into two, the two cells have the same exact DNA make up and chromosomes.

Can boy girl twins be identical?

Two girl twins can be either identical or fraternal (monozygotic or dizygotic). Two boy twins can be either identical or fraternal (monozygotic or dizygotic). A set of boy/girl twins can only be fraternal (dizygotic). Boy/girl twins cannot be identical (monozygotic). Sep 13 2019