Having a twin is a fantastic thing. They’re practically a best friend that never leaves. You transition through the different stages of life together, and that can be a really helpful thing. You always have someone to talk to that will understand where you’re coming from. And on the first day of classes when you have to do those horrible icebreakers where you have to go around the room and say something interesting about yourself, you always have a response prepared.

But there are definitely some struggles to being a twin that non-twins wouldn’t even think of. To be honest, it’s not always as amazing as non-twins think it is. Here are the top five reasons why being a twin can be a struggle.

1. You share everything

If you have a hard time sharing clothes with your siblings, then being a twin is not for you. For the most part, we don’t even get a birthday to ourselves. As much as I love my sister, I kind of want all the celebration to be about me for once! That may sound egotistical, but if you had to share a birthday you would feel the same way.

2. Twin stereotypes

Stereotypes about twins are the worst. When someone first finds out that I’m a twin, everyone automatically starts asking the same questions. Do you guys fight? Do you play tricks on your professors? Do you finish each other’s sentences? Do you have twin telepathy? How can I tell you apart? I could go on forever.

3. Competition

This one may be slightly different for fraternal twins of different genders, but I know that my sister and I are always extremely competitive. Whether it's sports or schoolwork, we’re always trying to do better than the other. We are so similar that we can’t help and compare everything we do. People also enforce this by asking which one of us is better at certain things. I never have an answer to those questions. We are different people and we excel at different things.

4. Nobody knows your name

Nobody knows which one is which. At this point, I just answer to my sister’s name as well as my own. The worst is when somebody confuses you for your twin and you feel too awkward to correct them so you just go along with it.

5. Always being known as “the twins”

I was working the other day and someone came up to me and said “Oh you’re the twin, right?” It’s like that has become my identity. I am, and forever will be, a twin. It’s a struggle trying to differentiate myself from my twin and try to make people realize that even though we may look alike, we are completely different people with separate personalities.

All that being said, I still love being a twin. And whenever people ask me what it feels like to be a twin, I don’t really have an answer for them. I’ve always been a twin, so it’s the only thing I’ve known. Not being a twin sounds strange to me. I’m always going to have this annoying clone following me around wherever life takes me, and that’s the end of that. Even though it comes with its share of struggles, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.