12 x surprising facts about twins
Nowadays, more twins are being born than ever. This can partly be explained by the fact that women are waiting longer to start having children. The chance of having twins increases with the age of the mother. Well, I really don't want to think about that yet. Man, it seems tough to have to raise a twin. I can't even imagine being able to keep one baby alive, let alone two. Hats off to all the parents who succeed in this.
For now, I'll just stick to reading surprising facts about twins.
1. Mothers of twins live longer
Research shows that women who have twins live longer. This only applies to women who become pregnant with twins naturally.
2. Twins can develop their own language together
This phenomenon is called ‘cryptophasia’: twins babble to each other as babies and develop a language that can only be understood by them. How sweet is that?
3. A twin can be conceived by two different men
When you have sex with different men during your ovulation, each can fertilize their own egg. This occurs very rarely in humans and more often in dogs and cats. Seems like quite a complicated story to me.
4. Twins build a bond in the womb
I find this so sweet too. In the tenth week of pregnancy, the first interaction between the two takes place. Between the twelfth and sixteenth week, there is an increase in contact and play between the babies.
5. An identical twin does not have the same fingerprint
Even identical twins have different fingerprints. Because they touched the womb in different places, the lines are different.
6. Siamese twins can read each other's thoughts
Wow, this is intense. Siamese twins often taste the same and feel the same emotions. And in some cases, when they are joined at the head, they can even hear each other's thoughts.
7. Twins are twice as likely to be left-handed as the rest of the population
Of all twins, 22 percent are left-handed, while an average of 10 percent of the population is left-handed.
8. Twins can become each other's mirror image
About a quarter of twins develop in the womb while looking directly at each other. This can literally make them each other's mirror image. So if one has a mole under the right eye, the other gets one under the left eye. Isn't that bizarre?
9. Twins can be born weeks apart
When a baby is in danger, it can happen that one of the two is born while the other remains in the womb. For example, in Romania, a twin was born over seven weeks apart. It is very rare for births to be so far apart.
10. Most twins are born in Nigeria
With an estimated 45 twins per 1000 births. There hasn't been enough research to explain this phenomenon with certainty, but researchers suspect it has something to do with a certain type of yam, a tuber and also the staple food of the Yoruba, which contains substances that resemble the reproductive hormone.
11. About one in 250 pregnancies results in identical twins
The genetic predisposition of the parents influences the occurrence of twins, but the twins born due to hereditary predisposition are almost always fraternal. The chance of having identical twins is therefore not determined by heredity.
12. Identical twins share 99.991% of their DNA
I've never thought about the following before. If a twin gets involved in a crime, this can lead to problems in the criminal investigation. Based on their DNA, they are ultimately indistinguishable. To solve this problem, the police, the Public Prosecution Service, the NFI, scientists from the Genetic Identification department, and the Forensic Lab for DNA research work together. A mega strong alibi: just claim that your brother or sister has misbehaved again.
