Category Archives: Identity

Stories and Statistics

Being an “outlier” has its advantages and disadvantages. When I delivered my short presentation at the Budapest conference for the International Twin Society for Twin Studies and the World Congress of Twin Pregnancies, I was the only speaker who did not have a statistic-based PowerPoint presentation. My sole PowerPoint slide highlighted the primary issues I feel passionate about: Triadic connection of a twin pregnancy Ultrasound examinations/labeling The twin mystique Deconstructing the twin connection Life is not fair, and twins are […]

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Reflections on the Budapest Conference

The conference I attended last month in Budapest was a joint meeting of the International Twin Society for Twin Studies and the World Congress of Twin Pregnancies. As one might expect, the primary emphasis was on the reporting of genetic studies that use monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal) twins as the control groups to determine the heritability of various illnesses, personality traits, and well-being. The members of the World Congress of Twin Pregnancies focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment […]

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Identity Capital

I just finished reading a fascinating book called The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—And How to Make the Most of Them Now. I was drawn to the subject matter because of my work with adult twins. The twenties can be particularly challenging for some twin pairs because they are facing separation struggles and the impact of romantic attachments on their twin connection. Author Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist specializing in adult development, defines what she calls “identity capital.” She […]

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Twinsburg Survey Findings

Amusingly, many of the twins who patiently answered the survey questions at my booth at the Twins Day Festival displayed a penchant for peeking at their twin’s paper to check out his or her answers. Most had no idea what they were doing until I laughingly pointed it out. Twins just do those kinds of things habitually—without thinking. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I was heartened to find out how consistent the survey findings were with the material […]

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A Singular Sensation

Twins often find it difficult to appreciate their own successes. Since so many of their accomplishments are evaluated in relation to their twin, many twins find it challenging to absorb a singular success. It has been a habitual practice to evaluate a twin’s status by comparing what one twin has or doesn’t have–or did or did not do–with that of the other twin. Singletons are accustomed to being compared with others, and consequently they learn how to integrate their successes […]

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