Patrick Dempsey: It's twin boys!

Update September 29th: When asked by the View ladies this morning if his sons are identical or fraternal, Patrick said that he didn’t know. Rosie O’Donnell then asked if there was one sac or two, and Patrick replied two. Because of this, Rosie assumed that the twins are fraternal. According to CBB reader Julie, mom of fraternal twin girls,"in most cases…two sacs and one placenta = identical…two sacs two placentas = fraternal."

CBB reader Hannah writes, "I think the readers are confusing the definitions of identical and fraternal twins.  I busted out my Mayo medical reference book and read that there are several types of identical twins, including some that share sacs and placentas.  However, the only thing that classifies twins as identical vs. fraternal is that identical twins are formed when one egg is fertilized by one sperm and then divides.  Whether or not the babies share a sac or a placenta depends on how late the zygote decides to divide and sharing a placenta can actually be very dangerous and is considered high risk, since the blood flow can often be uneven between the babies and the umbilical cords can become tangled.  Fraternal twins are formed when a woman releases two eggs, which are fertilized by two different sperm, thus forming two separate, different babies."

Pregnancy.About.com guide Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE emails, "Hannah is right, I’d just add: About 17% of monozygotic (identical) twins have two internal and external sacs, diamniotic/dichorionic (di/di). The outer sac is the chorion, the inner sac is the amnion. So you can have monoamniotic/monochorionic, diamnioic/dichorionic, monoamniotic/dichorionic, etc."

Thanks to CBB reader Layla.

Update September 20th: Patrick revealed on Regis & Kelly that they are expecting twin BOYS!

Thanks to CBB Readers Ella and Doreen!

Originally posted September 19, 2006:
Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey and his wife Jillian, who just announced their pregnancy last week, are expecting twins in late January/early February. The TV doc and his wife already have a daughter, Tallulah Fyfe, who is 4 1/2.

Comments

WOW! That’s wonderful news!!

- Doreen on September 19th, 2006

Eeek! How exciting!

- Candice on September 19th, 2006

congrats! Twins are difficult…I know I have twin 1 year old nephews who keep us on our toes at ALL times!!

- joy on September 19th, 2006

LOL…what’s the prospect of him getting two well-behaved babies? Slim-to-none, I’d say. He might be having trouble in those first 6 months like he said he’d had with Tallulah. What amazing news for them, congratulations!

- Lucy on September 19th, 2006

OMG! How exciting. I just adore him and they seem like such a great couple. Congrats to them.

- Sid on September 19th, 2006

Well, Patrick, you said you didn’t want A screamer. Now you get two.

- Traci on September 19th, 2006

i wonder if she was taking fertilization drugs. i really want twins and may go that route. anyone know her age? it seems twins are reallly common in hollywood these days. and they can afford to pay for wanting a multiple birth…

anyways, good for dr. dreamy!

- natalie on September 19th, 2006

ooohh two baby McDreamies congrats to him and his wife!

- fynn on September 20th, 2006

Wow, he’s going to have his hands full. But I’m happy for him and his family.

- FC on September 20th, 2006

Twins are common? Who else has twins except for Julia Roberts?
Anyway, congrats to them!!

- Kori on September 20th, 2006

Holly Hunter has twin boys, Angela Bassett has boy/girl twins, and lots of upcoming sets of twins as well.

- Sarah CBB News Editor on September 20th, 2006

WOW!! Congrats to Patrick and his wife!!! I don’t think he will be getting too much sleep in the next year!!!

BTW, with fertility drugs…not many docs are willing to just give them out for a woman who just “wants” twins. They are for couples who NEED them to even get pregnant with just one child. I have never heard of someone getting drugs prescribed because she just wanted to have twins.

- tink1217 on September 20th, 2006

congratulations! all the best to them and I hope she has a wonderful (and long) pregnancy!

- ingrid on September 20th, 2006

Its twin boys!!!!!!!!!!!! I heard on Regis and Kelly.

- EllaB. on September 20th, 2006

I’m happy for them! Check out this cool article: “Why You Should Watch Grey’s Anatomy’s Season 3 Premiere”

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/64340/why_you_should_watch_greys_anatomys.html

- Paula Neal Mooney on September 20th, 2006

I’m happy for them! Check out this cool article: “Why You Should Watch Grey’s Anatomy’s Season 3 Premiere”

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/64340/why_you_should_watch_greys_anatomys.html

- Paula Neal Mooney on September 20th, 2006

I’m happy for them.

- Paula Neal Mooney on September 20th, 2006

It’s twin boys Danielle!! Patrick announced it on Regis & Kelly!

- Doreen on September 20th, 2006

Now that is exciting news! No doubt will be as dashing as he is. Hppefully, they conjure up some decent names for the boys.

- landroverdisco on September 20th, 2006

His wife looks older than him — maybe she needed to to the fertility clinic route. Anyway, congratulations to them.

- Marilyn on September 20th, 2006

I have to disagree about the unlikeliness of McDreamy having two well-behaved babies. My older brother is 2 1/2 years older than me and my twin sister. My mom had such a rough time with him as a baby that she freaked out when she found out she was having twins, but both myself and my sister were much easier than my brother! So, it’s possible for him to have two easy babies.

- Hillary on September 20th, 2006

I wonder how common twins are in the general population? I think that nowadays a lot of twins are due to fertility drugs.

- Michelle on September 21st, 2006

Jillian must be about 4 months along for anyone to tell the sex–is that right? It’s been 20 years since I had an ultrasound so I don’t know if things have changed as far as determining gender. Really happy, though, to hear the news!

- Carol A. on September 21st, 2006

About 17-21 weeeks usually, but they may know earlier if they had some genetic testing or had IVF etc done. Julia Roberts knew she was having boy/girl twins at 9 weeks along.

- Sarah CBB News Editor on September 21st, 2006

As the older sister of twin brothers I feel sorry for his daughter

- melanie on September 21st, 2006

I wonder how you decide whom to credit for tips. I tipped you on this about 1 minute after he announced it on Regis and Kelly. Hmmm.

- strange on September 24th, 2006

He said there were two sacs…that does not necessarily mean they are fraternal. You can have two sacs and one placenta…wich ususally results in identical….two sacs and two placentas usually result in fraternal twins.

I have fraternal twin girls….did a lot of research while I was preggo.

- Julie on September 29th, 2006

Hi,
Just wanted to say that you can have identical twins that have both separate sacs and placenta. It happens as the result of a very early split 2-3 days after conception. only about 1/3 of all identicals have this condition. I know this because my girls were this way and only DNA testing can confirm identical vs. fraternal.

- Trish on September 29th, 2006

There is no way to tell for sure if your twins are fraternal during pregnancy. Sure the twins can have seperate placentas and all, but identicals can also have seperate placentas. (the chances would be more likely that they would be fraternal, there are also many twins that are identical in this situation) Some times frats can look so similar, that DNA testing is needed to know for sure. Obviously if they look different…that will be the biggest clue. Many twins in my family…including a set of ID girls for me.

- Christie on September 29th, 2006

Kori, lots of celebrities have twins.
Julia Roberts
Mellissa Etheridge’s wife
Two of the Dixie Chicks
Monique
Angela Bassett
Michael J Fox
Steve Harvey
P Diddy (on the way)
Marcia Cross (on the way)

and the list continues

- Angie on September 29th, 2006

Ditto to Julie’s comments. I have five month old twin boys. They were in two different sacs and had two placentas, but that does not mean they are fraternal. The doctors told us as much and said that, after their birth, they could test the placentas to determine whether the boys were identical or fraternal.

- Traci on September 29th, 2006

I agree with the possibility of the twins being well behaved. I just (in June) had twin, identical boys and they are truly a pleasure. My older son was much more “needy” than the twins….they are a true joy. As for identical vs. fraternal: we had no idea whether they were identical of fraternal until they were born. Apparently if I had an early (like around 6-8 weeks) ultrasound, it would have been easier to tell what kind of sac and placenta the boys were in. It appeared like on placenta with a membrane separating into two sacs. After the boys were born they tested the placenta and did a DNA test and found the boys are identical. Now there is no question, they look exactly alike.

- sharonamh on September 29th, 2006

It is not sharing one plancenta that puts the babies at risk of entanglement. It is one sac that puts them at this risks. Those babies are called MoMos (monozygotic, mono amniotic).MoMos are very high risk. I am the mother of MoDis (monozygotic, diamniotic, identical in two sacs) girls. The only real way of knowing is by genetic testing unless the babies share a sac (only identicals do this) or if the babies are girl/boy (those must be fraternals). But identical or fraternal they are still pretty special.

- Sierra on September 30th, 2006

Julia Roberts must have had IVF- the gender can be determined from embryoes even before implantation. I have had CVS testing on my last and current pregnancies which is the earliest any testing that can ID the gender can be done. My guess is that a lot of celebrities have IVF which almost always means multiple embryones being implanted.

BTW, YAHOO for more Dempsey’s in the world!

- thinker on October 2nd, 2006