The Life of Identical Twins Of all multiple births, identical or fraternal twins are the most common occurring on average in two percent of all births. Identical twins develop from the division of a single fertilised ovum during its first stages resulting in twins being of the same sex and genetically identical. Their occurrence is random and not heredity unlike fraternal twins that occur from the fertilisation of two independently released ova. (Cohen, Oates & Yu, 1994). Usually, there is a close connection between identical twins arising from a physical and emotional bond developing from birth and lasting throughout their