Detecting strange twins

Science is well known for twins and identical eggs (identical) and for other twins (only slightly similar to a sibling). Doctors said yesterday they have identified the third type of twins, intermediate between the two.

This type of twins is called " half-egg ", meaning that two sperm fertilize the same egg, and it is unclear how the two children in this case grow up.

In other egg twins - the most common type of twins - the mother provides two eggs, fertilized at the same time in the womb by two different sperms of the father. The two children in this case have the same genes as any other family member.

Most twins are different from eggs.
(Photo: twinsworld.com)

In twins and eggs, a mother's egg will be fertilized only by a father's sperm, and in the very early stages of embryo development, it will split into two fetuses, growing up independently. These twins are similar to two drops of water due to the same genetic genome.

A new type of twin was found because one of the children had genital abnormalities - vague genitalia - and was considered androgynous, with both the ovaries and testicular cells. This baby was raised like a little girl, while the other was a boy.

In Human Genetics , the researchers report that "half-egg" twins have more identical genomes than other identical twins, but less coincidence with pairs of eggs. "This observation demonstrates the existence of other similar twins not known, and may never be known."

The two children are currently in good health, developing normally. They were studied at a hospital in the US a few years ago. Experts said the two children were born completely natural, unrelated to in vitro fertilization measures or assisted reproduction.

The study was conducted by Dr. Vivienne Souter from Good Samaritan Banner Medical Center in Phoenix.

T. An