Identicle: The Twins Conundrum

Identicle: The Twins Conundrum

Brittany and Cindy Daniel

by Bill Knell

The latest birth figures say Identical twins births in America have been on the rise for decades. Right now about every thirty two out of one thousand U.S. births are identical twins. That doesn't surprise me because we are a nation of immigrants who bring their genes with them.

Scandinavian and some European countries are known for having a large number of identical twin births. Perhaps that's why areas where they have settled in the USA have seen more identical twin births than other places. I am partly Scandinavian and have several identical twins in my family tree.

Two of my second cousins are beautiful identical twins. They look exactly alike and I had difficulty telling them apart when they were very young. It didn't help that their parents dressed them alike. This was a common practice back in the day and one still practiced by some today. Rose and Maggie began to resent this practice by the time they were in third grade. Fortunately, their parents understood their frustration and gave in to their request.

They look alike, but couldn’t be more different in terms of their personalities. Maggie is outgoing and began a modeling career when she was eleven. Rose is more subdued and a bit distrustful. As those personalities developed it was much easier to tell who was who.

Both girls were younger than me, but we always got along. They were in high school in the 1980s and we often spent quite a bit of time together. Because my sister was a successful model, and I worked with models, I was able to give career advice to Maggie. Rose was taking a starter Cosmetology class in high school and really enjoyed it. Once she turned eighteen she was able to obtain her license and work in that field.

Since Rose was considered an apprentice before that, I was able to give her plenty of real world experience working as an assistant makeup artist for our models while she was still in high school. Rose did an outstanding job and we got closer as time went on. It was then that I discovered why she was sometimes moody and withdrawn.

Rose was bothered by things I never thought about. When they were fifteen, Maggie was seeing a guy who kept hitting on Rose when her sister wasn't around. He also kept pressuring Maggie to have sex with him. Both sisters saw that he just wanted to say he had been with twins, so Maggie cut off contact with him.

The sisters kept their virtue until they were married in their early twenties. Their reasons were less virtuous than you might think. The girls told me that, because they had identical bodies, they felt very self conscious about possibly having sex. Apart from avoiding the weirdos who just wanted to say they had sex with twins, Maggie and Rose had deeply personal considerations to deal with.

First, there was the obvious fact that seeing one naked, was seeing both naked. Second (and most disturbing to them), was that experiencing sex with one twin, was the bodily equivalent of performing the sex act with both. These were legitimate concerns to them and things that most of us didn't have to be concerned about.

Maggie and Rose wore their long hair in different styles based on their individual preferences. Sometimes they even dyed their blond hair different colors so that friends and others that knew them would know which twin was which.

While in grammar school they sometimes mischievously switched places sharing each other's classes. It was their way of rebelling against a system that pigeon-holed them and disliked recognising their individuality. Amazingly, they were never caught (which kind of proved their point). FYI… They never pulled that trick on their close friends or husbands.

My suggestion to anyone involved with twins is to think of them as individuals instead of some unusual pairing. Show them individual respect, understanding that each is their own person. Finally, avoid the ‘twins’ topic altogether unless they bring it up. If they do, don't ask a bunch of questions that will end up offending either or both of them.