Twice the laughter, twice the fun, and twice the birthday cake! From the day they are born, they are welcomed into a world where sharing is caring. Will they share the same thoughts or will they carve their own path into the world, while fighting off the complexities of their shared identities? Whether identical or fraternal, twins offer an exciting look into the intricate world as two forever linked, yet undeniably unique individuals.
Through the ups and downs, twins are automatically given a built-in best friend. According to research done by researchers at Better Health, around one in every three sets of twins are identical. Identical twins are the result of a divide into two when it is still only a tiny set of cells. Eventually the halves develop into two different babies, with two copies of genetic information. With identical twins, they are always the same gender but may have totally different interests and hobbies. Research has proven that around two in three sets of twins are fraternal. This is because two separate eggs get fertilized by separate sperm, resulting in fraternal twins. Fraternal twins are no more alike than siblings born at different times. They can be either the same gender, or different genders.
It is rumored that twin telepathy comes from twins’ brains being entangled in the womb. After conducting an experiment with 4 pairs of twins at Roxbury High School, the results implied that twin telepathy could be real. In the experiment presented, I asked each twin to pick a number between one and five. In the results collected, 50% of twins picked the same number, and 50% picked different numbers. These results implied, some twins could possibly have twin telepathy (or good guessing skills)! In my experiment, a girl-girl twin pair, and a boy-girl twin pair were successfully able to pick the same number. The other two pairs of twins, Jordan and Jackie Sheldon, and Amina and Janessa Yafai, both picked different numbers during the experiment.
In light of this article, I talked to a few sets of twins separately and together about the misconceptions of being a twin. Sophomore Sophia Chirico, said that a common misconception about her and her twin sister is that, “Everybody thinks we act/are the same person, when instead we’re actually two very different people.” I then was able to talk to her twin sister Gabby Chirico, and she agreed that “being a twin is really cool because many people see us as the Chirico twins, and although we are really similar, we are also really different from each other.” I also talked to Junior Julia Katz, and she said that “It’s so cool being a twin, especially having some similar and some different interests than my brother.”
Mrs. Baker, mother of identical twin girls Lauren and Allison Baker, explained that when she first had them, she actually had no idea that she was having twins! As they grew older, she explained that “they are mirror image identical.” Touching on twin telepathy, she told me, “There is no question about it, twin telepathy is a thing.” She shared a story from many years ago, when her daughter broke her foot at a summer soccer game, her other daughter (who was not at the soccer game,) Lauren called home and said that she knew something happened to her twin sister Allison, and that she (Mrs. Baker) needed to get there. She had called because she knew something had happened to her sister. I also had the chance to speak with Mrs. Chirico, mother of twins Gabby and Sophia Chirico. She explained that, “Twins are built in best friends for life.” Speaking on her personal experiences with twin daughters, she said that sometimes they will both come out of their rooms with the same outfit in different colors without even knowing the other is wearing almost the same thing!
In all, twins have their own unique identities that make them the individuals they are today. From twin telepathy to their unique personalities, twins are fun and interesting individuals. Although twin telepathy is a cool idea, and it may be true, the special bond twins share is built on shared experiences and is unlike any other bond.
