15 Interesting Facts About Identical Twins

The birth of a child is a significant event in the life of every family. And when not one, but two babies are born, this is a great happiness for both parents and grandparents. But what do we know about twins? Are they really that different from other kids?

In ancient times, twins were considered supernatural people. They excited the minds and became the prototypes of gods and mythological creatures. In the legends, twins are described as warriors or great healers, and in Indians there was a belief that the wind is the "breath of the twins", which means that they can control it, as well as cure any disease.

Modern science has already revealed many secrets concerning the human body, its amazing abilities and features. Many interesting facts are currently known about identical (monozygotic) twins. And we are going to mention some of them.

How is the sex of identical twins determined?

Identical twins are never of opposite sex. It is always either two girls or two boys. There is a rare exception to this rule associated with a chromosomal defect. However, such children have much more differences than similarities.

Despite their common genes, identical twins have unique personalities. There are no two absolutely identical people in this world. They are affected by subtle differences in the environment in the womb, as well as other factors after birth.

Interesting facts about identical twins:

• 1. Every person, including identical twins, has unique fingerprints. They may have the same appearance, DNA, parents, clothes, and almost everything, but not fingerprints. But why is that so?

• 2. Fingerprints are formed almost randomly during the development of the fetus in the womb, and depend on various factors, such as fluctuations in hormone levels. Similarly, freckles and moles on the skin are caused by random mutations and are also different.

• 3. Cases of birth of identical twins account for about 30 percent of all twins. The birth of dizygotic twins, that is, twins, happens twice as often as monozygotic.

• 4. Identical twins don't always share a "baby place" during pregnancy. Some, even the most experienced doctors, mistakenly define twins as fraternal because they have two placentas. In fact, the number of placentas depends on when the fertilized egg divides.

• 5. If this happens early enough, the two embryos will be implanted separately in the uterus and will develop separate amniotic sacs. If separation occurs later, they may share a common placenta.

• 6. About 40 percent of twins invent their own languages. They chat, whisper and laugh together. At the beginning of the study of speech, mumbling sounds, however, like abracadabra, understandable only to them. Usually their specialized jargon disappears as their vocabulary expands and by the time they start school, but sometimes it stays for years.

• 7. The chance of having identical twins is about 3 per 1000 twin pregnancies, while the birth rate for all twins is about 33 per 1000 pregnancies.

• 8. About 22 percent of all twins are left-handed, and only 10 percent of those born singles are left-handed.

• 9. To this day, it is completely unclear why the conception of identical twins occurs. In fact, this is an anomaly during pregnancy. At some point, the egg simply splits, and there is no apparent reason for this.

• 10. Identical twin pregnancies are twice as common with natural conception rather than with in vitro fertilization.

• 11. 25 percent of all identical twins in the womb lie opposite each other, they are called mirror twins. This means that they are exact copies of each other. One may be right-handed and the other left-handed, they could have birthmarks in the same place, only mirrored. This applies even to curls of hair.

• 12. The birth rate of identical twins does not depend on the race, geographical location or age of the mother.

• 13. Identical twins often live longer than others born alone, as well as fraternal twins. It is believed that the reason for this lies in the very close relationship between two identical brothers or sisters. This bond is much stronger than that of twins and triplets.

• 14. Research shows that when identical twins are separated immediately after birth, they often grow up with strikingly similar personality traits, identical strengths and weaknesses, and personal preferences. Some even end up in the same working environment, and there are other coincidences that are too strange to be accidental.

• 15. Science has proven that the electrical activity of the brain in twins is almost identical; this factor explains the sensitive understanding of each other and the ability of one twin to guess the thoughts and desires of the other.