Saturday, December 4, 2010

"Are they twins?"

When my kids were ittybitty I used to go on LONG walks with them in a stroller.  I loved it, but sometimes  I felt deprived of adult conversations.  I would often talk to strangers. The conversations all started the same way.

"Are they twins?"

Many people asked me if they were identical.  I would say "No, they are a boy and a girl".

Once this was the following conversation with a random 22ish year old and her entire family.

"I can see that, but are they identical?"

I felt a little obliged to explain that " No, identical twins would always be the same gender, they would be identical."  She looked at me like I was talking gibberish.  So I explained the 2 eggs - 2 sperm thing.  That they are as genitally similagenetically similar as any pair of siblings would be, they just happened to share a uterus

Here is the good part, "No, I am in medical school and that is not the way it works.  My professor just told me that identical twins can be of different genders!"  Like she was showing off her smarts in front of her whole  family.

So, as I griped the handles of my 3 month old very similar looking infants I ask her what medical school she was going to.  After she told me I told her professor was a moron and that if I ever see that a degree from that place I will run for my fucking life.


6 comments:

  1. Now I know where they get the doctors at the HIP center I won't go to.

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  2. Hahaha! I knew a masters in public health student who was pregnant & told her doctor that she and her husband wouldn't have sex during the pregnancy because she didn't want to get pregnant again. When he looked confused and tried to explain she couldn't get pregnant WHILE pregnant, she responded with "Hello! Twins!" Awesome. Oh... and she was focusing on Maternal & Child Health.

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  3. Oh... this brought back the memories! My identical "couldn't possibly be twins because they aren't dressed alike" are now 37. It would leave me speechless to hear an indignant, "Yes, I can see they are identical! Which one is the boy?" ---they live among us still--- :)

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  4. Those are some strong egos when they'll challenge the obvious expert by comparison.

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  5. obviously another reason why your mother told you Never Talk To Strangers!

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  6. Mike you'll likely never see my comment but anyway I've only just seen this post of yours and I'm a Hahahahahahahahahahaha all the way from Oz. Almost the funniest thing I've ever read! Hahahahahaha

    ReplyDelete

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