Did My Zygote Split or Not? Take the Poll!

TAKE THE POLL ON THE SIDE BAR AT THE TOP OR SCROLL DOWN TO LEARN MORE!


Every time I go to Walmart, (or Sam's or goodwill or Tio Tacos...you get the gist) I am asked, by at LEAST five different people, "Are they twins?" (but more often, because of my choice of residence,...

..."Son gemelos?") I smile kindly and say "yes" or "si", trying not to divulge through gritting teeth that all I really want to do is take the screaming two-year-old home for a nap. Inevitably, the second question is, "Are they identical? (or "Son Quates?") I then have to go into this litany:

"Well, they were born in separate sacs, but scientists have shown through DNA testing that if the zygote splits before the sac is formed, then they will be identical twins with two separate sacs. However, if two eggs were fertilized, then they would be fraternal. I think they are identical because I think the chances that they would look so similar are too remote, but my husband thinks they are fraternal, even though he can't tell them apart most of the time. It is a big debate in our family. Really the only way to tell is to get DNA testing, which costs, like $600, so I guess we will never really know. But I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, right? Just as long as they're healthy!"

(...when I respond to the spanish-speaking inquiries of whether or not they are identical, the answer is a little different. It goes something like this: "No sabemos" (being translated - "we don't know").

So....I've decided to post this poll (on the right side bar). You, my devoted readers, can vote on whether you think Joseph and Hyrum are identical or fraternal twins. I will post some facts about their births and histories and certain scientifiic studies, peppering the entire post with a variety of photos of them engaged in different activities (mostly just lying around). We will never actually find out whether they are identical or fraternal, unless I come up with an extra $600 to throw away, but I thought this would be fun anyway!

Don't be shy. All you have to do is click a button. (But not this one on the right, like some of you have been doing. That is just for visual stimulation. Go to the top side bar of the blog.)
So, either gather the information you need from this post, or, if you already know the twins and have formed an opinion in your mind...

GO AHEAD AND VOTE on the sidebar above!

FACTS:
-Joseph was born first and weighed 6 lbs and 3 oz.
-Hyrum was born a minute later and weighed 7 lbs and 1 oz.
-Joseph now weighs 15 lbs.
-Hyrum now weighs 16.5 lbs.
-They both have brown hair and blue eyes.
-There are no distinguishing birth marks.

SCIENTIFIC STUDY CITATION:
This is long and potentially boring, but if you really want to know about the biological differences between fraternal and identical twins, click here or here. (Have fun, Robyn.)



ARGUMENTS FOR WHY THEY COULD BE IDENTICAL:
-They look very similar.
-They have the same hair line and hair length.
-They lost their hair in the same male-pattern baldness at at five weeks old.
-It seems as though it is too much of a coincidence that they could look so much like each other and so little like Johnny, their other full biological brother.
-Even though there are slight differences in their features, this can occur in identical twins as they develop in the womb.



ARGUMENTS FOR WHY THEY COULD BE FRATERNAL:
-Hyrum has a bigger forehead than Joseph.
-Hyrum's eyes are more wide-set than Joseph's.
-80% of all double-sac twin births are fraternal.
-Hyrum is quite a bit bigger than Joseph.
-Hyrum looks a little like Johnny and Joseph looks a little like Landon.

Okay, time to vote! (Voting ends on July 17th, so don't miss out! Your vote counts!)