Why Zygosity of Multiple Births is not Always Obvious: An Examination of Zygosity Testing Requests From Twins or Their Parents

Abstract

This paper examines why parents of twins or adult twins themselves request zygosity testing. Of 405 multiples including 8 sets of triplets, the majority (93%) were monozygotic. Age of testing ranged from 0 days to 73 years. About 50% of requests came from parents or twins who were curious about, or expressed a need to be certain of, their zygosity. Other reasons included health concerns (current or future), other twins in the family, and misinformation about zygosity, frequently because of the erroneous assumption that all dichorionic twins are dizygotic. Parents of monozygotic twins may expect their twins to be ‘identical’ and believe their twins to be dizygotic because of minor phenotypic differences between them. Dizygotic twins like other siblings may share a phenotypic resemblance. Health professionals should be aware that zygosity of multiples may not always be obvious to parents and that accurate knowledge of zygosity may be justified.