Friday, July 8, 2011

But What Does it Mean!?

My friend Becky, who is a mother of identical twin boys, wrote a blog post yesterday about the definition of identical. After reading the entry, I couldn't help but laugh. It was just so true!

Nathan and I learned we were having identical twins before we found out we were having two boys. When I told coworkers and friends that we at least knew we were having identical babies, the response from several people (more than three at least) was: "I hope you have a boy and a girl!"

Each time this happened, I was more than surprised (just because it didn't make logical sense someone could even think identical twins could be a boy and a girl). I tried to politely explain that we would either have two girls or two boys because that is how DNA works. It's hard not to sound like a complete jerk in these situations, so I generally said: "Well, our doctor actually said...." Yes. Blame it on the doctor so I don't seem like a snob.

One time, even after the entire doctor spiel, I still had to persistently argue that identical boy and girl twins were not possible. The friend maintained that he had grown up with identical boy and girl twins, so he knew it existed. Finally, I gave up. It really wasn't worth winning that argument.

p.s. If you were one of those people, please don't be offended. Obviously, it is a common misconception!

2 comments:

  1. I love Becky!! I have boy/Girl twins who are now almost 20 months old and up until they were about 9 months old we were asked if they were identical all the time. First of all, they didn't even look like siblings! I would just smile and say, "No. Emma has girl p arts and Ben has boy parts". They usually would laugh and walk away. Be prepared for LOTS of attention! People are drawn to twins especially identical twins.
    I love your blog. I admire your strength in your morning sickness trials and hope you will find the answers to getting through it.

    Take care!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of my cousins was convinced that you could have identical girl/boy twins. After about 30 seconds of arguing, Josh and I gave up.

    ReplyDelete

A Penny For Your Thoughts