Fraternal Twins: The Special Bond Between this Increasingly Common Type of Twins
© Jodi Michael Horner
About 1 in 90 births are twins. Of the twins born, 3 out of 4 are fraternal sets and 1 in 4 are identical.
The Chances of Conceiving Fraternal Twins
The birthrate of twins, specifically fraternal twins, has increased dramatically over the past two decades. Since 1980 the number of twins has risen 52 percent and the number of triplets and other higher order multiple births by 404 percent, likely due to the increased use of fertility drugs.
Nobody understands yet why (though we know how) identical twins occur, but there's a healthy dose of information out there about why fraternal twins happen. Mothers who have taken fertility drugs have higher chances of conceiving fraternal twins or multiple births. If other people in her family have had fraternal twins, the chances of bearing fraternal twins are higher.
Though it might seem ironic, it's less unusual to have multiple multiples in one family. A woman is 3 to four times more likely to have a second set of fraternal twins if she's already given birth to one set.
The Undeniable Bonds Between Fraternal Twins
While they don't share an identical genetic code, fraternal twins do share a special bond. Twins Whitney and Kjyrsten Johnson, 13, are very different. Whitney is an outgoing redhead, and Kjyrsten is an introverted blonde. Yet they share a bond that is conceivably stronger than non-twin sisters. When Kjyrsten was invited to spend the night at a friend's house, her first question was, "what about Whitney?" It seemed the concern for her sister stemmed from the expectation that they would always be together.
Robyn, who has a fraternal twin sister, thinks that in some ways fraternal twins might be closer than identical twins. She theorizes that this could be because they don't have to deal with the level of competitiveness or identity issues that identical twins might have.
President Bush's girls are fraternal twins. Having someone your own age with the understanding of the same or similar experiences will surely help them in dealing with any strains of being the First Daughters.
Perhaps the bond fraternal twins have is forged by sharing so many experiences at the same point of emotional and physical development. Siblings share similar experiences, but they are not the same age when they do so.
The best way to identify the bond of fraternal twins may be to compare their relationships to those of regular siblings, especially if they're in the same family. Naturally each case will be different, but that subtle bond between twins will assuredly exist.
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