When the twins we born, we wanted to know right away if they were identical or not. Nothing could tell us either way, so everyone said “Just wait; give it some time and then you will be able to tell.” Now we have waited 9 months and we still don’t have the answer to this commonly asked question.

Both boys have the same blood type, same general facial features, same hair color, same eye color, same weight and the same temperament. But they did have two separate sacs, and once you get to know them they seem to look a little different.

It is actually fun to see some of their differences. Josh learned to scoot about a month before Matthew. Of course once he could get around what was the point in trying to crawl. Josh scooted for over 2 ½ months, while Matthew only stuck to scooting for a week and then picked right up on crawling.

Most know that Josh is the thumb sucker and Matthew is the binki boy; but did you know that Matthew has figured out how to wave, while Josh has figured out how to clap. As you noticed, there are no thumbs in these pictures to give the face away, and in case you are looking, all birthmarks have been digitally removed.

They both pull up on anything that will hold their weight. Every day I drag them down the stairs with the hopes that they will figure out how to come down before going up. Currently they avoid trying to go up the stairs because they have figured out that it is an “off limits.” Any time they approach an “off limits” zone they are quickly moved to the playpen. These are smart boys. We have successfully cured any interest they had in the garbage can, stairs, fireplace, and we are working on the dishwasher.

Well, we are done with waiting!! We saved up our money for the test, sent in their DNA saliva samples and now we know the answer. In addition, the results of our poll matched the official results. The twins are identical!! If only we had known, we would have skipped the expensive test and just asked for opinions earlier. Thanks to all who participated in our poll, it was fun seeing the results come in.

Our letter states: Results of Zygosity Determination Using DNA Polymorphisms: The twins are concordant for nine out of nine STR DNA markers. The twins are monosygotic (i.e. "identical twins") with a greater than 99% probability.