365 Days of Twinipedia - Day 86

Day Eighty-six of Twinipedia:

Fact #86

Did you know that researchers have found that twin baby fetuses begin playing together at 14 weeks in utero.   Such social butterflies those twinnies are!  


TheWeek.com shared this interesting fact discovered by researchers in Italy.  The Week article stated that after "examining 3D ultrasound images of five pairs of in-utero twins, a team at the University of Padova, Italy, found that fetuses started deliberately interacting at 14 weeks, reaching out and touching each other through the uterine wall. By 18 weeks, they spent more time stroking each other than themselves, and were equally careful when touching their co-twin's sensitive eye areas. The results are 'astonishing,' says Jean-Philippe Rivière at Doctissimo.  At 14 weeks, 'they were already socializing with their sibling in the womb.'
This is just too-cool-for-school.  And talk about an intriguing explanation as to why twins are often so incredibly bonded with one another even at birth.  They are each others first friend and first connection to another life.  Lovely!
Check out these images below from Physorg.com that shows Twin interactions in utero.  Just too amazing for words!

"(PhysOrg.com Photo http://www.physorg.com/news/206164323-twin-fetuses-social-womb.html ) -- Humans have a deep-seated urge to be social, and new research on the interactions of twins in the womb suggests this begins even before babies are born.  Types of movements. a, Video frame representing a self-directed movement towards the mouth. b, Video frame representing a self-directed movement towards the eye. c, Video frame representing the foetus reaching towards and “caressing” the back of the sibling. d, Video frame representing the foetus reaching towards and “caressing” the head of the sibling. Image credit: PLoS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013199"