# twins

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twins/44523
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 7, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twins/44523 "2000-12-07T19:05:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![flynnstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ebca7d/32.png) [@flynnstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flynnstone)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twins/44523/1 "2000-12-07T19:05:59Z")

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I’ve heard that twins skip generations. I’ve also heard this about red hair. Is this true? And if so, are there any other traits or characteristics that do this?

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### Author: ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twins/44523/2 "2000-12-07T20:34:52Z")

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Neither happens. My aunt and uncle are twins having been born from a twin.

Red hair doesn’t skip a generation, but it is a recessive trait. What this means is that you need both the male and female who produces the child to share a gene for red hair or red hair takes a back seat to the dominant gene.