Five sets of brothers and sisters share their stories of meeting for the first time as adults after discovering they were twins. The article explores the life-changing impact of this discovery and how it affects their relationships with each other and their adopted families.
What does it feel like to discover, in adulthood, that you are a twin? Here, five sets of brothers and sisters tell their stories of meeting for the first time – and what happened to them nextmagine finding out late in life that there’s someone out there who looks just like you: same eyes, same nose, same mouth. Not a doppelganger, but a twin you never knew existed.
Equally confused, the security guard went to get his girlfriend, Debbie, who told Tim he looked just like her brother. When Tim showed her his ID, she said, “You have the same date of birth as my brother!” They discovered that both Tim and Debbie’s brother, Bill Henry, were adopted and lived seven miles apart in Rhode Island. This was August 1977. Debbie suggested that Tim and Bill meet at a football game between their two schools that October.
Next, they arranged to meet their adoptive parents to compare paperwork. They continued to discover similarities and shared interests – from their mannerisms to having the same favourite baseball player. “The thing that freaks everybody out is our gestures – how we talk with our hands, how we move,” says Bill.
Debbie was raised Jewish; Sharon was raised Catholic. They grew up in New Jersey, about 40 miles apart. They both had non-biological sisters who they weren’t close to, so when they discovered they were twins, neither thought they would have a strong bond. Now, 27 years after they reunited, Debbie and Sharon feel closer than ever, despite living 1,000 miles apart. Sharon now lives in Alabama; Debbie lives in Connecticut. They meet when they can, speak on the phone once a week and text often. They aren’t resentful that they didn’t grow up together. In fact, they think they would have tried to assert their individuality if they had. Instead, they celebrate their similarities.
Jerry says it was “one big party” from then on. They hung out at weekends and stayed in touch for the next 25 years. But in 2011, Mark moved to Arizona and they lost contact. Jerry says his brother went into “hibernation” and cut himself off. He never knew why. Eventually, in 2022, Jerry heard that his brother had died.
Through a parent from the adoption group, Emelie found Lin’s parents’ names. After some Googling, she found Lin’s Facebook profile. Feeling sceptical, Lin called her parents. Like Emelie’s parents, they said they’d told her she might have a sister. “They showed me a picture of us when we were three at this Indonesian adoption group. They said: ‘Don’t you remember?’ I said: ‘No, I was three!’
These days, Lin and Emelie speak often and meet when possible. They’re grateful for their relationship. “Even though we didn’t know we were missing something, we now feel complete,” says Lin. “We always have each other’s back,” says Emelie. “Lin is one of the most important people in my life.”‘I thought I was seeing things’: Sam and Anaïs.Anaïs Bordier was 25, living in London and studying fashion, when her friend tagged her in a Facebook post that stopped her in her tracks.
Anaïs sent a message. “It said: ‘Hi, my name is Anaïs. I’m French. I live in London. I was born on 19 November 1987, too. Are you adopted?’” recalls Sam.
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