On Valentine’s Day, a woman in Texas gave birth to two sets of identical twins. While 3 out of every 1000 births involve identical twins, the odds of delivering two sets of naturally occurring identical twins (that is, without the use of fertility treatments) is about 1 in 70 million.
Doctors can usually diagnose a twin pregnancy by examining the placenta. In this case, each pair of twins shared a placenta. However, in some cases, identical twins cannot be distinguished from fraternal twins using the placenta alone (see dichorionic diamniotic twins). Parents of twins can request a twin DNA test to determine if the twins are identical or fraternal.
A twin DNA test, also known as a twin zygosity test, compares the DNA of each sibling. Identical twins will have exactly the same DNA profile, and fraternal twins will not. In many cases, parents who request this test have doubts about what they’ve been told at birth as their kids grew up and exhibited identical/nonidentical features. Some parents also were simply not told by their doctor about their twins’ zygosity, or have no access to medical records (for example, if the twins were adopted).
Determining twin zygosity is an important component of a child’s medical history, since the predisposition to genetic diseases will be shared by both twins.
Visit our twin zygosity testing page for more information, or call 1-800-613-5768.
Lauren Lake & Paternity Court
The ratings for Paternity Court continue to climb, and DDC provides the DNA testing to Judge Lauren Lake for her to share with the families. The shows pack a hefty dose of background, emotion, and drama into 30 minutes. And Lake and her team have found a smart way to...
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