siamese twins
The nurse from next door talked about the siamese twins that died, and indicated that one was male and one female. That can't be possible can it? Wouldn't siamese twins be identical twins?
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MovieChat Forums > My Life Without Me (2003) Discussion > siamese twins
Yep, they'd be identical. That bugged me, too.
sharei watched it today and thought.... identical twins are just that identical which means they have to be the same sex.. they came from an egg trhat split....... since CONJOINED TWINS come from one egg that did not completely split then it is not possible....
shareYeah, seems like the director skipped some biology classes. Ann's elder daughter has brown eyes, although her parents both have blue eyes. Maybe someone cheated on someone...
shareone of the parents' parent coulda had brown eyes and just skipped a generation
sharecommon. identical twins don't necessarily have the same sex. so much for the biology lesson that the director "skipped". it is though quite unusual that identical twins dont have the same sex.
I don't know about siamesic twins. But I think that there are most likely the same sex, but not necessarily, like identical twins.
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dulce bellum inexpertis
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identical twins don't necessarily have the same sex.
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Yes, they do!!! Dude, you need a biology lesson! o.O
Twins that are of different sexes are FRATERNAL (aka di-zygotic) twins, not IDENTICAL (aka mono-zygotic)... Identical twins are basically clones of one another so they are ALWAYS the same sex... They come only from a single egg, meaning that they have the *exact* same DNA.
Just the same, conjoined twins are ALWAYS identical and the same sex... They could not be conjoined otherwise because fraternal twins were always seperate. Fraternal twins can be the same sex or different sexes, it all depends on the sperm that fertilized it. Fraternal twins also always have their own amniotic sac, whereas identical twins most often share the same sac.
About the child of two blue eyed people having brown eyes... That's completely impossible... You carry two alleles for a trait like eye colour... you must have two blue alleles to have blue eyes (because the blue gene is recessive), therefore two blue eyed people can only have a blue eyed child. Comparitively, two brown eyed people can have a blue eyed child, so long as they each carry a recessive allele for blue eyes.
star phoenix 13
that's what I thought too. but my lexicon tells that it can happen that identical twins have the same sex. I don't know how to explain it in English, cuz actually I don't understand it entirely in my language neither ;-)
I had quite a lot of biology lessons in my life. you don't need to teach me...
dulce bellum inexpertis
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sueschdem
You are wrong. Identical must be the same sex. Fraternal can be either same or opposite. I think SP13 does need to teach you. Sorry.
It is true, as far as I know, that absolutely identical twins must be the same sex. However.. twins can be almost identical, like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen for instance, coming from the same egg that splits before it is fertilized instead of after. Therefore, these almost-identical twins can be of different sexes.
However, siamese twins would have to be actual identical twins, so the story is a bit off.
Also, the following poster is right about eye color. Eye color is not as simple as it's usually made out to be; there are many factors, and so two blue-eyed parents can have a brown-eyed child.
http://muir.deviantart.com
Mary Kate and Ashley are fraternal twins.
Okay...I think a lot of people may have forgotten that this is a..movie. The siamese twin thing, yeah it was a mistake on the director's part but that's all it was, a mistake. The one that really bugs me that everyone is going off on is the blue-eyed parents having a brown-eyed child. It's a freakin' movie people. Do you really think the casting director cared or even thought about the eye color of the actors auditioning for their respective roles? Do you think they're gonna say "Oh damn, you know this kid would be absolutely perfect for this role, but he's got brown eyes and that just wouldn't make sense, would it? Let's see the next actor." I don't think so. Get over it.
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Identical twins have the same sex. They are clones, which means that only differ in environmental features (personality, freckles) but not on genetic ones.
shareI agree. Brown eyes are a dominant trait so the Punnet (sp?) square only has to have 1 set of brown eyes to have an offspring with brown eyes (is my understanding at least).
shareActually, more than one gene controls eye color. It is in fact possible for two blue-eyed parents to produce brown-eyed offspring. So, that blows away your cheating theory. Also...IT'S A MOVIE!!!! GEEZ
shareI agree with you, both my parents have green eyes and i do have brown ones. My uncle and aunt have blue eyes and my cousin has brown eyes. It is not as simple as Mendel and peas, haha.
shareThis Is Bassed On A Book So Dosen't The Auther Need The Biolegy Lesson.
shareThe only way conjoined twins could ever be considered as the 2 sexes would be:
If they shared only one set of sex organs, and if it's decided to separate them, one twin would be raised as male and one female, with the help of reconstructive surgery and hormone therapy for the child left lacking. Alas though, the child without the organs could never procreate and/or get pregnant.
(A hard choice but worthwhile if it means one twin's eventual death does not also spell one's own immediate doom.)
However, this is certainly not a surgery that is done right after birth, and not without a lot of consideration by the parents and doctors beforehand.
"Shake me up, Judy!"
My ears pricked up immediately when she referred to them as "Siamese twins" - a term that has been out of vogue for AGES! Any medical professional would definitely refer to them as "conjoined twins". After that, I wasn't paying much attention because I couldn't get over this glaring error!
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED IF EARTH IS ANOTHER PLANET'S HELL?
That's bacause in Catalan (Cuixet's mother tongue) is called "bessons siamesos", so it's a direct translation.
shareIt is already mentioned in "goofs" that conjoined twins would be the same gender. Fraternal twins develop separately from two fertilized eggs or ova. Also, as a retired nurse, I believe no pediatric nurse would be asked to assist at a C. Section.
shareShe was a student at the time, so she was observing/learning. She was definitely not the only or senior nurse in the room.
shareI was actually crying, like Ann, listening to siamese story and then when she said 'he died and then she died' I was like what?!! you just said they had one torso? So there went one of the best scenes of the movie! actually one of the best scenes in any movie I've seen in along time. It actually snapped me back to..this is just a movie.
shareWhen Ann (the nurse) is telling Ann the sad story of holding the newborn conjoined twins as they died in her arms -- it was like "huh" for me when she says one was male and one was female -- took me totally out of the mood -- why didn't anyone catch this -- conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. This should have a new listing as an "extreme goof."
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There was a post above mentioning the Olsen twins. They are fraternal twins not Identical or as they put it 'Almost identical'.
Yeah this scene bugged me so much, that I can no longer watch the movie. But what bugged me even more was when I tried to explain this seen, alot of people didn't get what was wrong. What's worse, some of these people were nurses.
It didn't occur to me at the time, but you're right, conjoined twins have to be the same sex. I think I can forgive her referring to them as "siamese", but the different genders thing is much harder to forgive. It's such an easy thing to look up. It's hard to believe not a single person who read the script before it was filmed didn't pick up on this detail and mention it. Maybe the director or whoever did know it wasn't possible but decided to leave the monologue as it was because it was easier to visualize "first the boy went, then...". Still, that's so lazy. It's otherwise an amazing film that throws in so many great little details. It disappoints me that this mistake slipped through.
Tomorrow's just your future yesterday!