Speech on identical twins.....help

[destany08]

I need 3 suptopics to talk about, can anyone help?

1 subtopic is going to be personal experience because I am an identical twin but not sure what else to talk about. Speech is 3-5 minutes.

[RiverSky]

Perhaps popular myths and truths about identical twins

medical info on identical twins, ie. how often it happens, how do twins even know if they are identical or not (i've heard dna tests must usually be taken), etc.

[Novella]

What sort of group are you presenting to? (That will help us hone in on suggestions).

[Gena 22]

2 other subtopics:

First science / statistics, how the rates of identical twinning are constant across all races, maternal ages, etc. It's a fairly constant and random occurrence. How scientists don't really know how or why it happens, how if the zygote divides days 1-3 the twins are diamniotic - dichoriconic, days 3-8 (I think) twins share a placenta, days 9-13, twins share everything. One good explanation of this is apartment living. di-di is like each baby having an efficiency apartment. They make great neighbors. mono-di is like a 2 bedroom apartment, each babe has their own bedroom, but they share a kitchen, which can sometimes lead to problems. Finally, mono-mono is like being cramped in a studio apartment. Tight quarters.

Then discuss how although identical twins share the same DNA, environmental differences can turn on or off certain genes, which make the twins less identical. Like my girls. They were born a pound different in weight. Who knows why. But the different in utero enviroment lead to differences all through their 2 years - the smaller girl has never caught up and is still a light eater. And radically different personality, but that's another matter. I think, anyway.

Good luck!

[f&p'smama]

You could talk about different cultural views on twins. I think in China twins are considered lucky. When I used to walk through one part of our neighborhood in San Francisco with the girls, lots of older Chinese people would fawn all over the girls, even though they didn't speak any English and I don't speak Chinese. I believe there are also cultures where it was considered very bad luck, too, or a bad omen.