The cells engaged in meiosis I are similar in that a diploid cell

divides into a haploid cell, and it works by involving

chromosomal crossing across genes, which results in genetic
diversity in the daughter cells of the next generation from the
parent cells. Metaphase II is the stage of meiosis when the
meiotic spindles of the two daughter cells created during the
initial meiotic division begin to pull the chromosomes back to
the metaphase plate, allowing the cells to divide without any
DNA replication. As a consequence, every allele will have two
copies in each cell.