During one of my recent talks to a Moms of Multiples group, I asked the audience to help me understand why organizing alone time with each twin can be an emotional hurdle. One woman related that alone time with each twin interferes with family time, especially during the weekends when full-time working parents can spend time together with their children. Another woman shared her concerns in a delightfully humorous way. She explained that her well-intentioned, engineer-minded husband was not the […]
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Twinfest! A Celebration of Twin Togetherness
Since there are very few gatherings of adult twins, in my presentations, I customarily speak to parents of multiples. So, it was quite a pleasure and an honor to talk to an audience of adult twins who had gathered at the University of Washington to celebrate TwinFest!—the first annual celebration for twins who participate in the university’s Twin Registry. I spoke about my research, my philosophy, and my own experiences of being a twin. I shared how my twin sister, […]
Pedagogy Or Pathology?
Following my radio interview on KQED, in San Francisco, a listener wrote an e-mail chastising me for propagating unnecessarily negative views about twin development. Moreover, my colleague Dr. Nancy Segal also expressed a similar viewpoint by stating that statistics show that twins are no more at risk for mental health issues than anyone else in the population. She, too, seemed uncomfortable about my desire to highlight adult twin challenges. While I am well aware that most twin relationships are healthy […]
The Good/Bad Twin Split: A Recipe For Disaster
The psychological effects on twins who are identified as the “good” or “bad” twin are well documented in various writings by Vivienne Lewin, Barbara Klein, and Dale Ortmeyer. The emotional fallout often continues well into adulthood. Understandably, many twins who have been raised this way are completely estranged from one another. The bad twin feels betrayed that his twin colluded with their parents in perpetuating this split. While the good twin relishes the special role that he has coveted, he […]
A Double Wedding, Of Course!
I was intrigued by an interview on www.huffingtonpost.com, conducted on April 4, 2014, entitled “How Identical Twins in College Handle Dating.” Identical twin girls in their sophomore year at the University of Texas in Austin talked about how much they enjoy dressing the same, completing each other’s sentences, and studying the same major so that they can go into business together after graduation. A statement made by one of the young women particularly struck me. When asked why they continue […]