Can parents tell their twins apart?

[Sevenpointfive]

like at a young age? is there a point in time where they are different?

[BCRanger10]

Yes. I have twins, and they are identical. However, there are still variances between them. Identical twins aren't necessarily an exact copy-and-paste of each other.

In my case, one is slightly larger than the other, though that's a cheat with us; one had dropped to beneath the first percentile on her growth charts because a blockage of some sort in her umbilical cord.

That aside, the younger's eyes a just a little bit further apart than the elder. She also has a birthmark.

The way they scream and cry is different. The elder twin is more shrill and the younger sounds deeper and more full-throated. The way they babble and, in some cases, talk is slightly different (one has more vocabulary than the other).

There are ways parents of twins can tell them apart.

[Sevenpointfive]

are yours natural or IVF?

[BCRanger10]

Natural.

[Sevenpointfive]

makes sense. i should have asked about ivf.

[BCRanger10]

I see. I for one am opposed to IVF though.

[renodnol32]

I have twin relatives and i can tell them apart. then surely its easier for parents of twins.

[Sevenpointfive]

what gives it away?

[renodnol32]

I don't know. They are identical. I was just able to tell early on as a kid who is who.

[DishLady]

Yeah, there's at least a mole or something that's a little different between them, and when you know them well (in the family etc.), you can tell their personalities aren't the same.

[NathanDavis]

Yes.

[Sevenpointfive]

but was there a time you couldn't?