Twin FAQ

[pantryslut]

1. Are they identical or fraternal?

Fraternal.

2. Who's the father?

This is complicated. Genetically speaking, black_pearl_10 is the father. Legally speaking, thanks to marriage laws (hey, didja know that one of the purposes of marriage is to 'legitimize' children, that is, give them a legal father regardless of genetic parentage?), imnotandrei's name is on the birth certificate and thus the legal father, unless we try and mess with this down the road, which we might -- and possibly become a groundbreaking test case!

3. Where did you get their names from?

Mostly, I liked the way they sounded, that's all. 'Frances' is Steven's grandmother's name. 'Simone' was inspired by a radio ad for the opera, but also for Nina and de Beauvoir. 'April' and 'Leah' are my own whim.

Their second middle name is G.'s last name; their last name is the same as mine.

4. Can I come over?

If we know you personally, sure.

5. Can I hold them?

Yes. Wash your hands first.

6. How are the cats doing with all this?

Surprisingly well. Coaltrain is extra-needy, and Fritzi is overcoming her natural wariness, but overall, they seem to be adjusting just fine and mostly ignoring the babies.

7. Are you guys getting any sleep?

No. Well, OK, a little sleep, but not much.

8. Which one is Scooba and which one is Roomba? How do you know?

Simone is Roomba; April is Scooba. I knew which was which positionally in the womb, but I didn't know their names until I met them in person. (They actually spent a day as "Baby A" and "Baby B" b/c I hadn't had a chance to really meet Simone properly -- she was in the NICU and I was all IV'd up.)

9. Which one is older?

Simone, by two minutes. She is also the bigger one.

10. When can they come out to play?

In about a month.


Any other questions? Ask away!

Comments

[sfgabe.livejournal.com]

Are you allowed in CA to leave "father" blank?

I have a blank "father" line on my bc, but that was ok in NYC in the 70s, no idea if that's changed.

They also would not let my mother give me my own last name. She was in the process of changing her last name back to her maiden name when I was born so she wanted me to have that one (Scelta). Instead they made her give me her married name (Willis - also not related to me in any biological way). Then, whew, lo to the courts that will not grant an angry, 70s, post-pardon, giant-afroed, second wave, single-by-choice mom what she wants. It got changed with a lot of time in court but it took almost a year.

So yes, the whole system is worthy of some groundbreaking test cases.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

I didn't ask if I was allowed to leave 'father' blank. Maybe I should've.

[srl.livejournal.com]

See above. Even if you'd left it blank, the presumption of legitimacy would apply in any court that had to decide the issue, unless it was a case specifically about Steven disclaiming paternity and G. admitting paternity. US family law doesn't allow for the possibility of split paternity in any case that I'm aware of.

I seem to recall, though, that some Scandinavian systems have allowed (at least historically?) an unmarried woman to recover child support from all the men who could have been her babydaddy. Which isn't precisely split paternity, but it works really well as a way of privatizing the financial responsibility for out-of-wedlock children...

[thette.livejournal.com]

That doesn't sound like any Scandinavian system I'm familiar with. (I'm Swedish.)

Our legal system isn't based on common law. It's a mish-mash of clan thinking with a frosting of Code Napoleon. (Which is why you can't disinherit your children, you can only will away a quarter to a half of your possessions and wills have only been around for little more than a century. Possessions, land in particular, belonged to the clan and not to the person.) Child support is a relatively recent thing, but bastards became legitimate children when the mother married the father.

[srl.livejournal.com]

Blank "father" lines were generally required by the 1970s for unmarried women's children in most states, because states would use birth certificate paternal data to chase down unmarried fathers for child support. As a result, an unmarried father now has to give in-person consent for his name to be listed on the birth certificate; in some states, this requires a court proceeding, not just signing the birth certificate when the baby arrives.

There's a whole story worth writing about how American laws changed in the 1970s and early 1980s to allow for alternative child-naming practices. Most states used to require that an unmarried woman's child bear her last name and that a married woman's child bear the father's last name. I've got a case in my files from Georgia in the 1970s where a married couple had to sue the state registrar of vital statistics for the right to give their child a hyphenated (mother-father) last name. (They won.)