Twins of the Week: Emma and Lucy
Wednesday May 31, 2006
Meet this week's twins! Emma and Lucy are identical twins. The girls, adopted from China, were three years and three months old in this show of sisterly affection.Learn more about international adoption of twins and other children from About.com's Guide to Adoption and visit the Photo Gallery for more pictures of twins and multiples.
Comments
The term “identical” is not accurate and should be replaced with “monozygotic” twins, especially by those of us who know the science behind twins.
At the 2006 National Conference of Multiple Births Canada we were fortunate enough to be given a keynote address by Dr. Louis Keith of Chicago, co-founder of The Center for the Study of Multiple Birth. Dr. Keith explained that the only time the twins are identical is when the cell/egg splits. From that point on each co-multiple is living his or her own unique and individual experience.
To use his example — in the 60’s his twin was subjected to Agent Orange in Viet Nam, he was subjected to old-time anesthetics. These unique experiences are reflected in their DNA. The word identical is therefore misleading, which is why we should use the terms monozygotic or dizygotic to reflect the true identity of the multiples.
Gail Moore
Vice Chair MBC
Director of Communications
Hi Gail — thanks for your comment and explanation. Although the multiple birth community understands the distinction, the general public does not, so I prefer to use the more common terminology for this feature of my website. Thanks again! Readers who wish to understand the difference can check out my article: Determining Zygosity