There are plenty of famous siblings in the A-list world including the Kardashians, the Beckhams, and the Williams sisters. But what you might not know is that some of our favourite celebs have a lesser-known twin.
As a leading DNA testing laboratory, we often meet families that have experienced multiple births, with twins being the most common of all.
Global data for twin births has even shown that the rate has increased since the 1980s, with factors such as fertility treatments and women starting their families later on in life contributing to this. In Ireland, almost 2 in 100 births are twins.
Here, we feature some world celebrities along with their identical or non-identical twin.
Celebrity twins
American actress Scarlett Johannsson might be famous for her role in The Avengers but not many fans know that Scarlett has a non-identical twin brother, Hunter Johannsson, who is also an actor. Hunter might be a foot taller than Scarlett, but Scarlett is the older sibling by three minutes.
Award-winning British-Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland has a non-identical twin sister named Rachel Sutherland. While we might know Kiefer particularly for his part in the Fox drama series 24, Rachel prefers to stay behind the camera, working in post-production TV.
Another actor who is also a twin is Joseph Fiennes, probably best known for his role in Shakespeare in Love and The Handmaid’s Tale. His non-identical twin brother, Jacob Fiennes is a gamekeeper in England. The pair do have another famous brother, Ralph Fiennes, whose roles have included Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.
Some famous twins even choose to work together. Action movie legend, Vin Diesel (born Mark Sinclair) and his identical twin brother Paul Vincent (born Paul Sinclair), have collaborated on several projects including Multi-Facial, with Vin Diesel writing, acting, and directing, and Paul Vincent editing and working in sound.
Our final set of celebrity twins don’t just look alike but their names sound similar too. Identical twins, Rami Malek and Sami Malek have even used their similarities to their advantage in the past with Rami standing in for Sami during his university studies! Today, Rami is an award-winning actor and Sami is a qualified teacher.
The different twin types
A person can be considered a twin if they were formed alongside their sibling in the womb during a single pregnancy. Many people will have heard about identical and fraternal (non-identical) twins.
Fraternal or non-identical (dizygotic) twins are the most common twin type worldwide and are formed when two separate eggs are fertilised by separate sperm. The fertilised eggs then implant in the uterus, resulting in two babies from the same pregnancy. Non-identical twins can be the same sex, or different sexes (one boy and one girl).
However, identical (monozygotic) twins will always be the same sex, as they are formed when a single fertilised egg splits, creating two embryos that share near-identical genes.
A twin DNA test – also called a zygosity test – is a DNA test that can be used to determine whether multiple children from the same birth (twins, triplets, quadruplets etc.) are identical or non-identical.
For just €139 and with results in 2-3 days, our home Twin DNA test can be ordered quickly and easily online and gives families the expert answers they need from our award-winning and accredited laboratory.
With only simple cheek swabs required, this easy and completely painless test can be used on siblings of any age – from new-born babies to grown adults. The DNA (zygosity) certificate provided on completion of the test can also be used as a unique keepsake for multiple birth parents.
Need to know more about our Twin DNA test? Call our friendly and knowledgeable Customer Services team on 0140 29466 or email them at info@alphabiolabs.ie.
Identical or non-identical?
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