If you are a fraternal twin, or know a pair of fraternal twins, then you know they do not look alike.
In me and my sister's case, you can’t even tell we are related. Everywhere we go, whenever we reveal to people that we are not only related, but twins, we are greeted with stares of questioning and disbelief. It is very amusing, and I not only expect that reaction, but sometimes even look forward to it.
If you tell someone you are a twin, they automatically assume there is another person who looks exactly like you running around somewhere. I always immediately add, “But we look nothing alike.” The excitement usually dimmers a little at that moment.
I would like to come clean and say that being a fraternal twin is still cool! People will still mix up your names, and as babies, your parents will dress you in identical outfits because why not? It's cute as hell.
The best part about being a fraternal twin is that you are completely your own person. Also, it’s a useful go-to when you have to share a fun fact about yourself. Every first day of classes I have ever had in my entire life, you could catch me saying, “I have a twin” as my fun fact. I’m sure this is true for most twins everywhere.
Fraternal twins also can possess “twin-telepathy” tendencies that might only be associated with identical twins. For example, on more than a few occasions my sister and I have come downstairs in the morning wearing the exact same outfit. We will then bicker about who has to go change, and it usually involves the statements, “Well I was born first,” and then, “yeah so you’re going to die first,” and by that time, we are late for wherever we were going.
One thing all twins can be caught doing is talking at the same time in creepily synchronized ways. This comes in handy for fraternal twins when you are trying to convince someone that you are actually twins without having to call up your mother for proof.
Another thing about all twins is that they are good at sharing. This is probably because they shared the womb for nine months, but that's just my theory.
Proving my theory even further, my sister and I shared a room until seventh grade, and we were perfectly content. Realizing it now, sharing a room with someone for 13 years truly prepared me for dorming with a roommate in college.
Two of my favorite perks about being a twin is that you will always have at least one permanent friend and access to at least two closets. So, I can confirm that the hype of being a twin, whether fraternal or identical, is all it's cracked up to be and more.
