Myths of Twins Dispelled

by Cheryl Larkin

Being a twin, I have heard all the myths posed to me in the form of questions from the curious. My intention with this article is to go over the biggest myths and explain them. First let me start by saying that there is no mystery involved with being twins. We are simply two individuals who happened to be born at the same time from the same mother. The most important thing to remember is twins are individuals. We may look alike, although fraternal twins don't, but we have our own thoughts, feelings, dreams, and lives. For me, being a twin is synonymous with having a built in friend who will always be there for me, help me when she can, never judge me, and love me unconditionally. If there is any mystery to that then I am sorry because all friendships should be like that. With that said I will now try to explain away the biggest myths concerning twins.

All Twins Must Have the Same Parents
I know you are sitting there thinking I am crazy with this one but let me explain. It is a necessity for the mother to be the same, however, having the same father is not. Let me first give you the definition of twins. Identical twins are formed when one sperm fertilizes one egg and then the egg splits while fraternal twins are formed when two separate sperms fertilize two separate eggs. It is the fraternal twins that could have different fathers. Knowing this definition, is it not possible for a women to have sexual relations with two different men within the same ovulation cycle and be fertilized by both? If you answered yes, you are correct. I know of one such case and there are probably many others not reported. I am not saying that this is the suggested way of having twins, I am just saying it can happen.

All Twins Share the Same Birthdates
While this is true in the majority of cases, it is not entirely true. It is possible for twins to have different birth dates if one is born before midnight and the other after midnight. In fact, it is possible for twins to have different birth years if one is born just before midnight on New Years Eve and the other after. True, this is a technicality, but it happens more often than you would think. My sister and I are not one of the above cases.

All Twins Dress the Same
Before the children are old enough to decide on clothing it is up to the parents. Unfortunately, parents of twins seem to think it is cute to dress their twins alike so this does happen frequently, however, once the children are old enough to chose themselves, the majority of twins will try like hell to NOT look alike. My sister and I went in totally opposite directions once we could decide for ourselves. I chose the clean-cut preppy look and my sister chose the dark grunge look. We have since met somewhere in the middle because we are more comfortable with our individuality. There are definite benefits to being a twin, but the biggest thing most twins want is to be treated as individuals just like everyone else in the world.

All Twins Feel Each Other's Pain
While it is true that some twins do feel each other's pain, it is not a guarantee. There is no mystery to this either. It happens simply because two people share an extremely close bond. You do not need to be a twin to have this gift. I do have it with my twin sister. In fact, there have been numerous times that co-workers noticed me limping and asked what was wrong, to which I replied "My sister's knee is acting up." I also have it with my best friend. All it takes is being totally honest and open and really caring about each other.

All Twins Trade Places to Fool Other People
I am aware that many twins do this for fun, however, my sister and I never purposefully did this. People do mix us up all too frequently but it is not by our doing. I remember one time in third grade my teacher thought my sister was me. It was time to line up to go back into class and I was the first one in line. When my teacher came out she looked at the playground and saw my sister at the drinking fountain. She yelled for me to get in line and just laughed when I tugged on her shirt to let her know I was right in front of her. So you see, it does happen without us having to try. My sister and I have worked all our lives to be separate individuals and we wouldn't change that just to have fun at other people's expense.

About the Author: Born and raised in Tucson, AZ, Cheryl (obviously) has a twin sister and two brothers. She loves writing, animals, computers, the Internet, movies, and music. She has had one poem published called The Old Pueblo.