phobia that one of the identical twins or triplets developed that was not shared by their genetic partners. The only differences the Neubauer team observed were in the march of development; one twin might lag behind the other, but would eventually catch up. In other respects, "their nature is as close as possible to identity, in different environments." Given that Neubauer has never published the study even though it ended more than a decade ago, it is impossible to assess the data of what may have been the most ideal twin study ever done, however cruel and ill-advised it may seem to the subjects, some of whom may still not know that they have a twin in the world.
"It was pointed out that these twins might meet each other in later life," says Bernard. "Our position was that if it did happen, then I would talk to them. And if one twin found out, then we felt obligated to tell the other." In fact, at least one set of twins Bernard knows about did discover each other. For the others, she's left an explanatory note in their files at the agency, should they ever ask.
After the triplets' reunion, Mrs. Kellman sought out a psychologist she remembered from the study. She asked the woman why she had let the boys grow up unaware of each others' existence. How could she personally have gone from the Shafran house to the Galland house to the Kellmans', sometimes on the same day, carrying such a secret inside her? "As a scientist," the psychologist replied, "how could I resist?"
Page 43
4
The Minnesota Experience
In 1979 Professor Thomas J. Bouchard Jr. was sitting in his office at the University of Minnesota, where B. F. Skinner did his landmark work on behaviorism, when one of his graduate students came in with a copy of the Minneapolis Tribune . "Did you see this fascinating story about these twins who were reared apart? You really ought to study these. You know, you talk about separated twins in your course." Bouchard began to read:
LIMA, Ohio. James Springer, brought up believing that his identical twin had died at birth, says meeting his brother face-to-face was "the greatest thing that ever happened to me."
Born in August 1939 in Piqua, Ohio, the brothers were adopted by different families when they were only weeks old. They say they don't know what has happened to their biological parents nor why they were put up for adoption.
Originally, both sets of adoptive parentsJess and Lucille Lewis and Ernest and Sarah Springerhad been told the other twin had died at birth. But Mrs. Lewis learned the truth by accident when she returned to probate court to complete adoption procedures.
Page 44
She recalled that when she said she had named her son James Edward, the court official exclaimed, "You can't do that. They named the other little boy James."
As the years passed, Lewis wondered about his brother, but he said he hesitated to try to find him because he was "afraid it might stir up some problems."
Eventually, however, curiosity overcame Lewis . . .
It was odd enough that both of the twins were named Jim, but it was utterly uncanny that each man had married and divorced a woman named Linda, then married a woman named Betty; the names of their firstborn children were James Alan Lewis and James Allen Springer; each had owned a dog named Toy. The article went on to say that both Lewis and Springer enjoyed carpentry and mechanical drawing and had spent family vacations on the same beach in Florida. Both had worked parttime in law enforcement. They were each six feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. The only apparent difference between them was that Lewis wore his hair short and slicked it back, whereas Springer let his grow longer and combed it forward in bangs. Perhaps it was all a series of absurd coincidences amounting to very little; on the other hand, it might be the riddle of existence itself, the mystery of how we become the people we are, bound up in two soft-spoken, rather bemused, thirty-nine-year-old identical twins who
"It was pointed out that these twins might meet each other in later life," says Bernard. "Our position was that if it did happen, then I would talk to them. And if one twin found out, then we felt obligated to tell the other." In fact, at least one set of twins Bernard knows about did discover each other. For the others, she's left an explanatory note in their files at the agency, should they ever ask.
After the triplets' reunion, Mrs. Kellman sought out a psychologist she remembered from the study. She asked the woman why she had let the boys grow up unaware of each others' existence. How could she personally have gone from the Shafran house to the Galland house to the Kellmans', sometimes on the same day, carrying such a secret inside her? "As a scientist," the psychologist replied, "how could I resist?"
Page 43
4
The Minnesota Experience
In 1979 Professor Thomas J. Bouchard Jr. was sitting in his office at the University of Minnesota, where B. F. Skinner did his landmark work on behaviorism, when one of his graduate students came in with a copy of the Minneapolis Tribune . "Did you see this fascinating story about these twins who were reared apart? You really ought to study these. You know, you talk about separated twins in your course." Bouchard began to read:
LIMA, Ohio. James Springer, brought up believing that his identical twin had died at birth, says meeting his brother face-to-face was "the greatest thing that ever happened to me."
Born in August 1939 in Piqua, Ohio, the brothers were adopted by different families when they were only weeks old. They say they don't know what has happened to their biological parents nor why they were put up for adoption.
Originally, both sets of adoptive parentsJess and Lucille Lewis and Ernest and Sarah Springerhad been told the other twin had died at birth. But Mrs. Lewis learned the truth by accident when she returned to probate court to complete adoption procedures.
Page 44
She recalled that when she said she had named her son James Edward, the court official exclaimed, "You can't do that. They named the other little boy James."
As the years passed, Lewis wondered about his brother, but he said he hesitated to try to find him because he was "afraid it might stir up some problems."
Eventually, however, curiosity overcame Lewis . . .
It was odd enough that both of the twins were named Jim, but it was utterly uncanny that each man had married and divorced a woman named Linda, then married a woman named Betty; the names of their firstborn children were James Alan Lewis and James Allen Springer; each had owned a dog named Toy. The article went on to say that both Lewis and Springer enjoyed carpentry and mechanical drawing and had spent family vacations on the same beach in Florida. Both had worked parttime in law enforcement. They were each six feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. The only apparent difference between them was that Lewis wore his hair short and slicked it back, whereas Springer let his grow longer and combed it forward in bangs. Perhaps it was all a series of absurd coincidences amounting to very little; on the other hand, it might be the riddle of existence itself, the mystery of how we become the people we are, bound up in two soft-spoken, rather bemused, thirty-nine-year-old identical twins who
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