Twins - how many sets do you have?

[kerryb]

Looking at my family tree this morning, I noticed I seem to have a lot of sets of twins.  My mum was a twin and I know there was always a family myth that they occured every other generation which sadly, I can just about dispel now.

It got me thinking, though are twins rare or common in families?

Kerry

[PrueM]

I know of 5 definite sets of twins - including me and my sister 
It definitely doesn't skip a generation though...these are fairly widely spread across various branches of the family.  I can't see any pattern in it, except that they are all on my dad's side.

Prue

[wheeldon]

I haven't found any on my wheeldon side but nearly every generation on my Wilshaw's has a set of twins.

Also, my Dad's a twin and his sister has twins. 

It makes me a little scared of getting pregnant again 

[kerryb]

I've found twins on both sides of my family and there seem quite a lot. 

If the family myth was ever true as neither my sister or my cousin had twins, it might have been me!  Circumstances however meant I didn't have children but I sometimes wonder!!!!! 

Kerry

[cristeen]

My mum is a twin and so is my hubbys mum ( both non-identical ). Happily I did not produce twins, 14 months apart was hard enough! I was told it skips generations too but have yet to find evidence of this in my tree. Plenty of twins born on both sides but no apparent pattern.
Christine

[PrueM]

There is an interesting bit of info at "Twins Realm": http://www.twinsrealm.com/twinsfaq.htm#family

Apparently it's the fraternals, not the identicals, that can run in families - and it's through the mother's family not the father's.  So all my dad's family history of twins, if a genetic trait, must have run through a female line...hmmmmm....will have to do some research! 

[kerryb]

Prue

What an interesting site!

My mum and her sister were so identical, even we had trouble telling them apart and as for their voices, if you shut your eyes you really did know which one was talking.

When my mum looks at old photos of the two of them together, the only way she can tell which one she was, is by the mole she has on her neck.  Of course if she was wearing a high collar there was no hope!!!!

Kerry

[PrueM]

Hi Kerry 

Wow, that's pretty amazing...I have known a few sets of identical twins but always there's been quite a distinct difference between them (at least once you had known them for a little while). 

It's a bit of a letdown for non-twins to learn you're a fraternal.  Usually, the first question I get asked when I reveal that I'm a twin is "are you identical??".  When I say no, the person almost always is visibly disappointed!    I went to Uni with a girl who had a twin brother.  She would tell people she had a twin brother, and more often than not, the people would respond with "so, are you identical??"    She figured it wasn't worth trying to explain!

Prue

[billabong]

Kerry,
        I know on my fathers side alone there are at least nine sets of twins. I have also heard they skip a generation god help my kids lol.

Regards Billa