If you're 'told' they are identical, but reallly wonder....*updated July*

[ChaoticMum]

.....I refuse to test - its not worth the money when the answer really doesn't matter - but it doesn't stop me from being curious.

We were told they were mono/di. That the membrane between them was approximately 1mm thick. It was extremely hard to find at all of my u/s but was glimpsed at each and every one. I never did see the placenta(s) since I was under general anaesthetic for their delivery. I never heard about any pathology report on the placenta(s), and we did not have bloodwork done on the babes.

Their whole life they have always been no greater than 4-5oz different in weight and no more than 1/4" difference in height, all my children are light haired, but none of the older ones have the same shade to each other or to the Duo - these guys have the exact same shade.  I have mixed them up once - at 6mths of age, and they each have a birthmark between their eyes that we swear is the same but mirrored.

Help me out - what's the Mothering.com diagnosis....identical or not?

http://out-of-the-mouths-of-babes.blogspot.com/2011/05/dynamic-duoidentical-or-not.html

[Shuli]

From the pictures that you posted they look different to me, but that could just be the camera angles.

[Super~Single~Mama]

I came in from new posts and am totally crashing....but I love pictures of babies!

I say ID.  Regardless, they are beautiful!!!

[LSUtwinMama]

Your boys are adorable! I say ID.

My twin girls, di/di, are ID and there is still a 1/4" difference in height and a few ounce difference in weight. They have mirrored birthmarks on the back of their neck and  reached milestones at the same time (they started walking within hours of each other at 12 mo, had the same first word, etc)

[luv my 2 sweeties]

I'm not a mom of multiples, but as a "lay" observer, I'd vote for identical.  In high school I knew twin girls who looked exactly the same for the most part -- wore their hair alike, had similar taste in clothing, etc.  When I first met them I thought there was no way to tell them apart, but as I got to know them better, I started being able to tell.  I couldn't always tell if I only saw one of them, but side-by-side, I started to see subtle differences.  Maybe as the person the closest to your sons, they are looking less and less identical to you as time goes on?  And most fraternal twins I've known look no more alike than regular siblings, which can be pretty similar, but still with apparent differences.

[Tigerchild]

My MZ boys are about 2 inches different in height, and probably about 15 lbs different in weight.  (They are TTTS survivors, so they have *always* been 20-30 percent different in height and weight from birth)  Height and weight is simply unreliable for determining zygosity.  There are too many other factors at play.  Even if there was no TTTS, cord placement or placenta sharing can cause a size difference.  Supposedly there is another chance at puberty for them to reset and reach the same height/weight (which would make sense).  THere is no question that they are MZ though.

My MZ boys have different dominant hands (they are not "mirror image" twins though), different birthmarks.  Strangers and people who only see them every once in awhile can have a hard time telling them apart, but people who know them well don't have any trouble.  I find that now as a mom of twins I can tell MZ twins apart fairly quickly and easily as I get to know them.  My boys do not look alike to me at all in person--they have hugely different facial expressions too.  It's in photographs that I have a harder time, esp. if they're not doing their different weird "picture taking" smile.

I have known fraternal twins and siblings that are not twins that look more alike than some of the MZ twins I know!  Siblings in general sometimes can look very VERY much alike.

[ChaoticMum]

Originally Posted by Shuli 

From the pictures that you posted they look different to me, but that could just be the camera angles.

They are IMPOSSIBLE to get to look at the camera at the same time! LOL
 

Originally Posted by Tigerchild 

My MZ boys are about 2 inches different in height, and probably about 15 lbs different in weight.  (They are TTTS survivors, so they have *always* been 20-30 percent different in height and weight from birth)  Height and weight is simply unreliable for determining zygosity.  There are too many other factors at play.  Even if there was no TTTS, cord placement or placenta sharing can cause a size difference.  Supposedly there is another chance at puberty for them to reset and reach the same height/weight (which would make sense).  THere is no question that they are MZ though.

My MZ boys have different dominant hands (they are not "mirror image" twins though), different birthmarks.  Strangers and people who only see them every once in awhile can have a hard time telling them apart, but people who know them well don't have any trouble.  I find that now as a mom of twins I can tell MZ twins apart fairly quickly and easily as I get to know them.  My boys do not look alike to me at all in person--they have hugely different facial expressions too.  It's in photographs that I have a harder time, esp. if they're not doing their different weird "picture taking" smile.

I have known fraternal twins and siblings that are not twins that look more alike than some of the MZ twins I know!  Siblings in general sometimes can look very VERY much alike.

All of my kids look so much alike - my older boys are 16mths apart and the same size - MANY people get them mixed up regularly, but once they actually LOOK at them there is no doubt.

Its amazing how many people do believe they should be the EXACT same size etc - that's why I posted those stats  - not so much that *I* thought they pertained to being MZ, but as those 'throw it out there' details.

I wish I could walk around with a pamphlet for the fact that ID isn't necessarily IDENTICALLY identical! LOL

[Gena 22]

Don't waste the money on the test, unless you really need to know for sure.  As a mom that went 15 months thinking her twins were fraternal, until I broke down and did the test, you twins look more identical than most MZ twins.  And it's unlikely that the docs would be wrong about mono-di twins.  It's of course possible that the placentas fused, making it look mono-di, but that seems unlikely, especially with a thin membrane.  If they shared a placenta, they must be MZ.

So cute and definitely MZ!

[Smurfette2]

Well, my twins are the result of two eggs, two sperms, two fertilizations. They were born looking alike but now at 9 weeks, Sophia is our California surfer girl with olive skin and brownish/black hair. Grace is the raven beauty with black hair and very fair skin. Both still have those deep blue eyes - which TeenBaby had until 26 months. Then her eyes went green. My babies are less twins and more sisters but they do everything the same. I mean EVERYTHING. It's sometimes scary how they mirror each other's mannerisms.

LOL. 9 weeks old and I'm already talking about mannerisms.  

[Tjej]

I'm a non-twin mom too, but if you really wonder couldn't you get a look at your medical records from the birth and see what they wrote about the placenta et. al.?  I know I have a copy of my DD's birth report thing, and I think I have my DS's too.  It's kind of fun to read what the doctor's perspective was anyway - very different from the other end of things. ;)

Tjej

[Snowflake777]

They definitely look MZ to me, but the light is hitting them differently in every pic so it's a little hard to judge.

I was a full-time nanny for MZ twins for a year. In the beginning, I couldn't tell them apart, but after a couple of months I knew who was who at a glance. Sometimes I could even tell them apart from behind, or just hearing their voices.

Now I see them only occasionally, and I have no idea who is who! 

Point is, when you're around them all the time you notice the tiny differences that most other people won't.

[babygrey]

Originally Posted by Tjej 

I'm a non-twin mom too, but if you really wonder couldn't you get a look at your medical records from the birth and see what they wrote about the placenta et. al.?  I know I have a copy of my DD's birth report thing, and I think I have my DS's too.  It's kind of fun to read what the doctor's perspective was anyway - very different from the other end of things. ;)

Tjej

Yeah this, plus you should be able to get a copy of the actual pathology report for the placenta. I know I have a copy of the path report from my twins' placentas. 

FWIW, they look identical to me. and super cute :)

[Marissamom]

I'm not a twin mama, but I wanted to say that it's impossible to tell just by looks. I have twin uncles, they shared a placenta, and looked identical until post-puberty. now there's s six-inch height difference, and they don't look any more alike than the rest of the brothers, so we're pretty sure they're fraternal, but you wouldn't know that by looking at them until adulthood. 

[mauri456]

Originally Posted by Marissamom 

I'm not a twin mama, but I wanted to say that it's impossible to tell just by looks. I have twin uncles, they shared a placenta, and looked identical until post-puberty. now there's s six-inch height difference, and they don't look any more alike than the rest of the brothers, so we're pretty sure they're fraternal, but you wouldn't know that by looking at them until adulthood. 

If they shared a placenta, they are ID.  

[2lilsweetfoxes]

I babysat a set of twins--looked exactly alike.  I could not tell them apart for the most part.  Their mother insisted they were fraternal, so...  I also knew another set that mom said fraternal, but, for them also, to this day, I often wonder if they are really identical.

[gmvh]

Originally Posted by 2lilsweetfoxes 

I babysat a set of twins--looked exactly alike.  I could not tell them apart for the most part.  Their mother insisted they were fraternal, so...  I also knew another set that mom said fraternal, but, for them also, to this day, I often wonder if they are really identical.

We know two sets of twins (coincidentally the two sets share the same two names) and both moms insist their boys are fraternal because that's what their medical provider (an OB) told them.  In both cases the boys look so SO much alike and move the same way and and and - I just cannot believe they are fraternal.  I've talked through with both moms about how twinning happens (because they were told their boys had separate placentas so they must be fraternal) and at least have each understanding how, indeed, their boys could be identical.  I don't think either has tested. 

My twins, on the other hand, are definitely fraternal (b/g) but I love the "are they identical" questions. 

[Marissamom]

Originally Posted by mauri456 

If they shared a placenta, they are ID.  

not necessarily. we have no idea if it was actually one placenta or if it was a fussed placenta (this was 60 years ago, in a small town, they didn't do a detailed study of the placenta), which we all think is way more likely now. they no longer just have the subtle differences that are common with MZ twins, after puberty they have much bigger differences, and are actually harder to confuse than the other three brothers, major height and build difference, one now has wavy hair, face shape differences, different chins. they looked very, very similar, and had the same height and build until puberty, and there was no medical or environmental reason for one to grow so much more than the other, or any of the other physical characteristics that are different. no one believes they're MZ anymore. 
 

[Chula13]

I am confused about my twins as well I went through my whole pregnany being told that my twins were identical by the peritonoligist but when they were born the ob said they were not identical . I can always tell them apart but others can't and always assume they are identical.

[Lisa1970]

I would have the dna testing done. My children have always been right at each other in sizes and development, and they are all singletons. They were all within 3 ounces at birth too. Their 18 month pictures, they look alike and it is hard to tell which picture is to which child, except that most pictures are labeled or there are differences in outfits or backgrounds. Unless they shared a sac, and it sounds like they did not, then there really is no way to know prior to birth. Ok...I conceived twins when we were doing IF treatments and only had 1 going in (not a good response that cycle) so when they said twins, we knew it had to be identical due to the fact that there was only 1 to start. Or if there was testing done via an amnio to see if they are identical, but it sounds like none of these apply. Plus, your two boys look just like your daughter, so I think you have children who look a lot alike. I would just get the testing. Good luck! Hope that helps!

[Lisa1970]

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are even fraternal, but looked enough alike to be switched out for Full House.