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The Surprising Truth About Twins
Scientists study a connection that just might transcend human emotion
“The bond between twins is stronger than between mother and child, or between husband and wife.”
As starkly dramatic a statement as that is — and it was made by Donald Keith, not only a twin himself but also the director of the nonprofit Center for the Study of Multiple Births — an exploration of the lives of twins supports it.
A bond exists that seems to go beyond love or any other emotion. Some twins insist that their thoughts connect and they have a sense of wholeness together, and a raw, painful incompleteness if forced apart, or if one of them dies.
Real stories filled with both tragedy and devotion — and the inexplicable — can be found when you study twins. Which is not too much of a surprise. After all, there are approximately 73 million pairs of twins in the world today, according to research cited in the book Twin Stories: Their Mysterious and Unique Bond, by Susan Kohl.
Studying the evolving science about twins is intriguing and inspiring, and makes it clear — if there were any doubt — that there is much we still don’t understand about the human brain.
Controversy curls around the question of whether twins have a true psychic connection. In 2017, 97-year-old twin sisters Martha…
