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Does it matter?

"I get so embarrassed sometimes. People ask if our girls are identical and I have to say we are not sure. They loour girls are identical and I have to say we are not sure. They look at me like this was some kind of child abuse. 'You have twins and you have not had the responsibility to find out if they are genetically the same'. I try to explain it does not matter. Kate and Melissa have the right to develop as individuals, irrespective of their genetics. But you can tell this does not convince people."

When families ask if they need to definitely know the zygosity of their multiples, the best answer is "only if you want to know". Obviously there are exceptions as in the case of transfusions or transplants, but fortunately for most families such issues will not arise. MZ twins have the right to be treated as individuals, irrespective of their genetic similarity. DZ twinning is more likely to run in families and in individual couples and so knowing if your first twins have been DZ does make it more likely that future pregnancies will also result in multiples.

There has been some debate in both the UK and Australia about routine zygosity testing being available for all same-sex multiples at no or minimal cost to the family, but demands on the health budget make that seem unlikely. It would certainly eliminate the embarrassment the mother above describes, but is this enough for health authorities to make this a priority? If significant differences do appear between multiples in their achievements at school, then zygosity determination may be one thing to consider.