Tag Archives: autistic fraternal twins

An article recently published in the Austin American Statesman reveals new research that could impact the way we view autism. According to the article, the study showed a high incidence of autism in sets of fraternal twins. Identical twins are twins produced when a single egg splits in utero. Identical twins share genetic material and are genetically more similar than regular siblings; because of this, if one identical twin is autistic, there is a high chance that the other twin will also be autistic. Fraternal twins, on the other hand, are twins produced from two separate eggs in the womb. Fraternal twins share the same amount of genetic material as regular siblings; they simply share the womb at the same time. Of the sets of fraternal twins in the study, both twins had autism in 31 percent of male twin sets and in 36 percent of female twin sets. These…
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