mamas of twins question!

[bryvaeh]

hey mamas of twins or mamas that know about twins - question for you! i found out my twin boys have separate amniotic sacs and separate placentas. the US tech told me that they are fraternal but now i am reading a twin pregnancy book and it says identical twins can have separate placentas as well. anyone know any info for me? TIA!!

[Jillybean]

I have heard that too, I can't remember where though. It is my understanding that the only way to know for sure is by testing them after birth. Either way having seperate sacs and placentas gives you the safest kind of twin pg.

[3inclothdiapers]

I don't have twins, but from what I understand, identical twins can either have separate placentas/sacs/etc, OR they can be together. It depends on when they split. Fraternal will always be separate though.

I think the only way you'll know is after birth (or if a later u/s reveals 2 different genders!)

[bryvaeh]

cool i was hoping for identical and since all the twins in my family (mom and dad's side) are identiacl then i have a chance

[autumnlily]

They absolutely can still be identical! I'm in the same position as you are, my girls have separate everything - and unless they look totally different, I will probably have the blood test done to determine if they are frat or ident.

I was told, I have a 75% chance of fraternal and 25% chance of identical. I did hear though, the further apart the placenta's are from each other, the more likely they are frat. Mine nearly look fused - that's why my Peri is not ruling out identical until we see these girls!

Good luck!

[pawillars]

Originally Posted by bryvaeh hey mamas of twins or mamas that know about twins - question for you! i found out my twin boys have separate amniotic sacs and separate placentas. the US tech told me that they are fraternal but now i am reading a twin pregnancy book and it says identical twins can have separate placentas as well. anyone know any info for me? TIA!!

I hadn't heard that. Mine shared a placenta, the only thing that "split" was the cord. It was pretty cool although I freaked out the hospital staff when I asked to see it...They do look nearly exactly alike (I am their mother after all) but the personalities and voices are different. We did participate in a twin study through USC where the fact that they are identical was confirmed, not that I had any doubt.

BTW, my twins are 15 now.

[bryvaeh]

Originally Posted by autumnlily They absolutely can still be identical! I'm in the same position as you are, my girls have separate everything - and unless they look totally different, I will probably have the blood test done to determine if they are frat or ident. I was told, I have a 75% chance of fraternal and 25% chance of identical. I did hear though, the further apart the placenta's are from each other, the more likely they are frat. Mine nearly look fused - that's why my Peri is not ruling out identical until we see these girls! Good luck!

i guess that is what i will do with mine - the study i mean my US tech much not have known much since she said that means they are fraternal lol. it is cool that they could be either one though...i guess my placentas were really close too - that is a new fact to me too! thanks!

[Kimmomy2dom]

Mine were in separate sacs and DID have separate placentas (i think?) that fused by the time they came out. Doc said there was a shared something in between them, though, so when they were formed something was still attached between them.
It's just in their best interest to have separate everything anyway. They can still be identical, I forget what the odds are if they have separate sacs and placentas.
That's interesting that both sides have all identical twins since having them doesn't usually have anything to do with genetics!
I've heard it just has more to do with when your egg split if they are ID. So yours probably would have split fairly early on.
There's a great twin board I refer everyone to if you have more of these kinds of questions. If you're interested you can PM me. They are total experts at every single question anymore and helped me out a good deal when I was pg.

[Twinvillageiowa]

You would be amazed how dumb people are. My high risk OB told me that my girls had seperate sacks and placentas, which they did. But he also told me there was no way they were identical. Um, hate to tell ya doc, but they ARE!!!!!! No one else though they were but I just had this gut feeling. We paid to get them tested around 9 months. We ordered a kit through Proactive Genetics. All you have to do is swipe each mouth with a swab and mail it in. They send you a letter with the results. So short answer, yes they can have seperate everything and still be identical. You can also PM me if you ever have twin questions.


And about the placenta thing, my placentas started out totally opposite of eachother and then eventually fused. So I wouldn't put too much stock in location of the placenta....

[Deanner03]

The only way to know for sure is genetic testing. Identical twins can share OR have separate amniotic sacs. Good luck!
My twin and I were told we are fraternal (back then they thought separate meant fraternal) but we look alike.
Now we know that the only way to know for sure would be to have genetic testing done, but we don't really care THAT much!