The Things Strangers Say (or "Pardon me, Do I know you?")

People are always asking me if twins run in my family. I tell them "no, they run in my doctor's office." Not many people get it.

I often then find myself having to explain genetics to complete strangers in line at the grocery store. The other mom's in my multiple club say hold on because it never stops and some people get adamant about stuff. Their advice is to smile and nod and keep moving. Something I need to do.

The other day in line at the store was a time when I should have heeded that advice. An older couple behind me in line where quiet taken with the boys as was the cashier and asked lots of questions.

"How can you tell them apart?"

"Well, I look at them. They don't look alike."

"Are they identical?"

"No, because they don't look alike."

"Do twins run in your family or your husbands?"

And here is when the wheels fell off.

Identical twins are not genetic. They are a fluke of nature. There is no gene that can make an embryo split.

Fraternal twins can happen for a number of reasons:

The older the mother the higher the likelihood
The more pregnancies the better the chances
If you have had multiples before you are more likely to have them again.
If there are fraternal twins that run through the maternal line of the family (Dad has nothing to do with it, He produces the same amount no matter what, you need a the mom to produce 2 eggs at a time)
And, as is our case, certain medications or procedures will increase your chances.

And so the lady said, "If they don't run in your family, it's not fair if you get them."

So I said as kindly as I could when told I don't deserve my children, "Nor is it fair the amount of money that my husband and I had to spend, the amount of drugs I had to take that long term will do God only knows to my body, or the procedures that we both had to go through to get pregnant."

"After all that, we deserved a little 'gift with purchase'"

She didn't agree but the cashier about wet her pants laughing.

I just keep praying for grace.

I will keep you posted on how that is going and the other fun questions I get asked.