# Dating & twins - did you or they switch? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651 "2015-01-12T21:09:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/1 "2015-01-12T21:09:44Z")
It’s a [trope](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwinSwitch) that identical twins switch in all sorts of situations. Particularly during dating. I remember seeing a TV program where a man had a date with a woman who was a triplet and there were three swaps (one to each of the other triplets and back to the original) and the man was none the wiser. So, if you were a twin (or triplet or…) did you switch? If you dated a twin (or…) did they switch? ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/2 "2015-01-12T21:24:35Z")
Paging Shagnasty… ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/3 "2015-01-12T21:37:19Z")
I actually know a guy who slept with his identical twin brother’s wife-- at the time they were all living together. (It was consensual adultery, I mean- no rapey bed trick switches). Unfortunately, she got pregnant, and these two jokers had no idea how to tell who the father was (since they’re identical twins). The lady’s husband ended up assuming responsibility as the baby-daddy, but he kicked his brother out of the house (and later slept with his twin’s girlfriend to get revenge). Good times. Not that it needs to be said, but this was all good clean consensual fun. Impersonating someone else to gain sexual favours is something quite different (i.e. rape). Don’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/4 "2015-01-12T23:24:00Z")
I was friends with a two guys that were identical twins in college. Lived together all four years, joined the same fraternity, took the same classes, had the same degree plan, etc. They would trade off girls all the time. The guys were too symbiotic. It was kind of weird. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/5 "2015-01-12T23:31:40Z")
It’s on the fetishistic end of the short list of questions that twins find tiresome. But, for your anecdotal numbers collection, for fuck’s sake, no. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/6 "2015-01-12T23:34:19Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > I actually know a guy who slept with his identical twin brother’s wife I wasn’t really thinking of the sex side. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/7 "2015-01-12T23:35:56Z")
You know, I can’t swear to it, but I think most girls would be able to tell the difference. I mean, they don’t necessarily kiss the same way, and what not. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/8 "2015-01-13T02:01:23Z")
I was able to. Esp. helps when their two personalities are worlds apart despite being genetically identical. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/9 "2015-01-13T02:19:48Z")
My first was one of a pair of twins. (In an odd twist, fifteen years later my BFF is now dating the other one. :dubious:) Anyway, their mannerisms and personalities are different enough – and their voices, too, which if you think about it is a logical extension of the other two – that I highly doubt they’d be able to have pulled one over me at the time (or over my friend, now.) Went to grade school with twins: one was in all my classes, the other one I never saw except before/after school. By the end of that year, they only look sorta similar, not identical at all. The effect must be even more drastic if you’re talking about romance and luuuuurve and all that. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/10 "2015-01-13T02:36:49Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I was friends with a two guys that were identical twins in college. Did they stop being identical twins after college? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/11 "2015-01-13T02:53:44Z")
There were identical twin sisters living in my neighbourhood when I was growing up. A guy I knew dated one of them and got her pregnant. After she had the child, he began dating the other one and eventually married her. I figure family events must be awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/12 "2015-01-13T02:58:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **John DiFool** : > > I was able to. Esp. helps when their two personalities are worlds apart despite being genetically identical. I knew a pair of identical twins in college (but didn’t date either of them). Not only were their personalities completely different, but they also made it a point to cut their hair differently so they’d be distinguishable. At least, I assume that’s why they did it-- Maybe they just liked different hairstyles. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/13 "2015-01-13T03:22:42Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > Unfortunately, she got pregnant, and these two jokers had no idea how to tell who the father was (since they’re identical twins). The lady’s husband ended up assuming responsibility as the baby-daddy, but he kicked his brother out of the house (and later slept with his twin’s girlfriend to get revenge). Good times. Aren’t they both effectively the father. Their genetic information is practically identical. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/14 "2015-01-13T03:29:08Z")
Identical twins occasionally pop up in the bars and brothels of Thailand. Top Secret Bar in Bangkok is the current place to feature a set of identical twins. You can sort of tell them apart if they’re standing together, but separate them and you won’t know which one is which. No word if you can take them out together. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/15 "2015-01-13T04:21:30Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > you won’t know which one is which. Racist 😛 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/16 "2015-01-13T16:00:06Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Aren’t they both effectively the father… Morally, ethically, and emotionally: no. Genetically: also no. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/17 "2015-01-13T16:29:57Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > You know, I can’t swear to it, but I think most girls would be able to tell the difference. I mean, they don’t necessarily kiss the same way, and what not. I bet most guys could tell the difference as well. Whether we’d admit it? That’s the question. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/18 "2015-01-13T16:49:44Z")
On a twist on this, one of my brothers convinced a girl he was dating that he had a twin. He does not have a twin. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/19 "2015-01-13T17:02:27Z")
Identical twin here. One of my first girlfriends attempted to do this with my brother and I. We were all in High School at the time and it was after school. I was with her for a bit and then I had to go to work. I offered to drop her off at home, but she was insistent that she just stay and catch up with me in a few hours (after I got off work). She’d just hang out with my brother. He was cool with it and I figured, ‘meh, whatever’. I get back from work (at the time I think I was dropping off auto parts, I’d pick them up at one place and drop them off at another, took an hour or two). She wasn’t there and my brother was acting…_off_. He said that they ‘_wrestled_’ (like, literally) and that then he took her home. I tried to get more out of him, but nothing. When I called her she was abrupt and kind of apologetic. At this point I’m thinking they were wrestling and she was _too rough on him_ (ah, to be that naive again) or something. I talk to my brother again and finally get it out of him. They were wrestling around - just goofing around (as my brother saw it, not totally unusual, we’d done that sort of thing before) when she went up his pants and did the highly unorthodox ‘_penis maneuver_’ while aggressively trying to kiss him. She apparently was trying to get something started and my brother shut her down and then took her home. He was worried how I was going to react _to him_, which I, still to this day, find odd. He didn’t do anything wrong. Outside of that - no and neither my brother or I ever had any sort of interest in that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651/20 "2015-01-13T19:52:23Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > On a twist on this, one of my brothers convinced a girl he was dating that he had a twin. > > He does not have a twin. Please tell me he pretended to be his brother and tried to seduce her! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dating-twins-did-you-or-they-switch/709651.md?page=2)