People ask me all the time how can I say its 10% of the population who are womb twin survivors: its all because of this person, who wrote an article in 1990-
Charles Boklage and his article
Then he provided a chapter in my anthology Untwinned: perspectives on the death of a twin before birth
This was an extract from a chapter in a book "Multiple pregnancy" By Louis G. Keith
Boklage says that for every pair of twins born there are 10 sole survivors.
Twins make up about 1% of the population worldwide. So thats makes it 10% of the world population
- 600,000,000 in all.
When a twin dies before birth, the sole survivor needs help and understanding. Womb twin survivors are the sole survivors of a twin or multiple pregnancy. This group, 1 in 10 of the population, includes survivors of a stillbirth, miscarriage, abortion and a "vanishing twin" pregnancy. It is a story of a twin bond broken by death, leaving a lonely survivor.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Schizophrenia and the lost twin
Opinion is divided about the aetiology of schizophrenia. Firstly there are those who are concerned solely with studying schizophrenia as one of many disorders of the physical operation of the brain experienced by those with a genetic susceptibility. Secondly, there are those who view schizophrenia as a personality disorder and are concerned with personal and cognitive development and how that may have been compromised in various ways and at various stages in the life of the sufferer. Thirdly, there are those who dare to suggest that schizophrenia is not a mental illness at all, but a catch-all term for a wide spectrum of impaired thinking, extreme emotions, and bizarre behaviours, Among this group is RD Laing, who suggested forty years ago that schizophrenics may be acting normally to some kind of social or inner craziness.
There appears to be no way to heal this divide, but new research into the psychological effects on the survivor when a twin dies at birth or before may have provided an important missing piece in this puzzle. It is suggested that the symptoms that we call "schizophrenia" may be a completely normal reaction to a situation that can occur in the womb before birth - ie. the loss of a twin.
Read complete article with references
Comments welcomed.
There appears to be no way to heal this divide, but new research into the psychological effects on the survivor when a twin dies at birth or before may have provided an important missing piece in this puzzle. It is suggested that the symptoms that we call "schizophrenia" may be a completely normal reaction to a situation that can occur in the womb before birth - ie. the loss of a twin.
Read complete article with references
Comments welcomed.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Healing for survivors of the "vanising twin" syndrome
Take a look here
Quote: Donna Kramolis, a healer using a variety of hands-on techniques, has recently become increasingly aware of the vanishing twin phenomenon, which happens when there are twins in a mother's womb and one of them is absorbed into the other so only one child is born. The unresolved emotional issues from this can leave survivors with a great sense of loss.
"The Vanishing Twin is a new item of interest in my life and I'll be using the new protocol to help people with the stress of being a survivor of that phenomenon or dilemma," Kramolis said.
(Its catching on......)
Quote: Donna Kramolis, a healer using a variety of hands-on techniques, has recently become increasingly aware of the vanishing twin phenomenon, which happens when there are twins in a mother's womb and one of them is absorbed into the other so only one child is born. The unresolved emotional issues from this can leave survivors with a great sense of loss.
"The Vanishing Twin is a new item of interest in my life and I'll be using the new protocol to help people with the stress of being a survivor of that phenomenon or dilemma," Kramolis said.
(Its catching on......)
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The new US womb twin blog
The US blog just took a giant leap forward! Take a look here.
This is what Sylvia had to say today: ( I couldn't have put it better myself!)
Acknowledgment of the plight of the wombtwin survivor is in great need - both in society and in wombtwin survivors themselves.
I do hope they get lots of hits and followers. If you are in the USA and not following or commenting yet, please visit the blog and get involved!
Someone said to me yesterday that this project was too much of "a one-woman band." It certainly was to begin with, in April 2007 when I was all alone with my Unltd grant and a new company to create, but today we have members all over the world and I have two new directors - since yesterday- and a growing list of voluteer helpers.
Apart from the fact that I can't possibly cater for the needs of the 600 million womb twin survivors in the world all by myself, I did once have a life. That seems a long time ago now. I suppose if the company and the project can grow big enough to stand alone, one day I will be able to retire and write that novel about St Alban......
This is what Sylvia had to say today: ( I couldn't have put it better myself!)
Acknowledgment of the plight of the wombtwin survivor is in great need - both in society and in wombtwin survivors themselves.
Awareness of this condition becomes a clear explanation to what didn't make sense before. It is also extremely disproportionate to the pain suffered by those who lost someone with whom they once shared a womb. They need not suffer alone just because society hasn't yet established proper recognition and understanding of this syndrome. Battling such a vague condition all alone is especially difficult when being alone is the problem to begin with!
We must be the salmon swimming upstream in a world of nonbeliever singletons.
Rather than also looking the other way to this growing house of mirrors, we must recognize and respond to an impending epidemic. An ever increasing occurrence of twins & multiples is due to artificial interventions (like in vitro) and natural egg splitting due to egg ripeness as women wait later in their lives to conceive.
Wombtwin survivors are all around us and they are playing out their dream of the womb everyday... Some know it and can't help themselves, some know it and are helping, but most survivors have no idea.
I do hope they get lots of hits and followers. If you are in the USA and not following or commenting yet, please visit the blog and get involved!
Someone said to me yesterday that this project was too much of "a one-woman band." It certainly was to begin with, in April 2007 when I was all alone with my Unltd grant and a new company to create, but today we have members all over the world and I have two new directors - since yesterday- and a growing list of voluteer helpers.
Apart from the fact that I can't possibly cater for the needs of the 600 million womb twin survivors in the world all by myself, I did once have a life. That seems a long time ago now. I suppose if the company and the project can grow big enough to stand alone, one day I will be able to retire and write that novel about St Alban......
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Your sonnet - one week to go
There are just a few days left now to submit your poem for the competition.
Win £50 and also to have your poem published as the preface in my forthcoming book: "Womb Twin Survivors : the Lost Twin in the Dream of the Womb."
Win £50 and also to have your poem published as the preface in my forthcoming book: "Womb Twin Survivors : the Lost Twin in the Dream of the Womb."
To enter: Write your poem as a SONNET, that is in 14 lines, according to the rules set out here:
Email it to me with full contact details. Only one entry per person. Deadline midnight GMT March 31st 2010.
The winner will be announced on May 1st 2010. Prize money awarded on publication, plus a complimentary copy of the book. The poet keeps the copyright on the poem and agrees to this single use of the poem as a preface to the book.
All submissions will be posted on the wombtwinsurvivors website in early May 2010.
I look forward to reading the entries.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Womb twin stories
After the maelstrom of last week, being accused of being a "fraud" and promoting some kind of "delusion" or " fantasy" to people who are "mentally fragile and easily manipulated" etc etc. by a bunch of so-called "skeptics" on their own special forum for being sceptical about everything (except being sceptical) I returned home from holiday to find a load of emails, including this story. This lady has agreed to having her story made public.
A few months ago, my mother was talking to me about my personality and traits that I have. I am a quiet, shy person until you get to know me. I always think of others before I think of myself. I never understood why others aren't like me. I always thought it was because I was raised in a christian home and was told to think of others before you think of yourself. But if I hear that someone has been hurt, for instance, I put myself in their shoes and actually feel the feelings for them. I also do not stand up for myself- a characteristic that I do not personally like, but I feel as if I am doing wrong if I speak my mind, so it stays bottled up. I think about death a lot. This is not necessarily a negative or positive thing for me. There have been thoughts of suicide in my life, as of now, I am a mother of 2, and a wife. I have other people to think about than me leaving this world.
My mom told me she didn't understand why I'm that way. Then I started thinking, well my biggest fear in my life is to be left alone. And I started thinking about it, and everytime I turn around, someone is leaving me. When I was born December 3, my mother had me at 26 weeks pregnant. I was a twin and the doctors thought my placenta was infected, so they induced the delivery. My mother had other complications trying to get pregnant, and when she was pregnant. I survived, my brother was crushed by my mothers uterus during delivery. While my mother was planning a funeral for her new son, I was in NICU fighting for my life. I stayed in the intensive care unit with nurses watching me around the clock. I weighed 1 lb. 10 oz at birth. My skin was transparent, and I still hadnt developed features, such as fingernails. I stayed in the hospital through Christmas and Easter that year. I was allowed to go home in March. Beyond belief of nurses and doctors, I had survived! All the prayers and blessings kept me alive!
I was always afraid that I would be left alone in this world one day. The thought of that shadowed my young life often. When others argued or fought, I would try to be peace maker and try to stop it. I thought that if I could do something for someone else, everyone would be happy and all would be fine. Well, needless to say, I have finally learned that you can't please everyone. You can't make others happy if they don't want to be. I am still trying to please others, but look after my own life too. I have just started researching twins, to see if there were any reasons that I am the way that I am to better understand myself. I really want healing in my life. And to stop these negative feelings and thoughts that run through my head. While researching, I found out that there really is no information on womb twin survivors. This has compelled me to want to know more. And if there are 1 in 10 in this world that are survivors, then we need to help each other and ourselves to understand the feelings and reasons why we are the way we are. I want to join Womb twin to be a part of this organization and to begin the healing process myself, and to help others in any way I can to better understand these thoughts and feelings for them to go on with their lives.
Now thats more like it! Lets forget scorn, derision and all the other forms of verbal abuse that some people like to throw at me, because they are so full of rage and hate and need a place to dump it.
Here is a story that inspires me and shows that womb twin survivors are indeed a neglected group and I for one will try and do something about it.
Onward! Chapter 9 will be about the history of twin research. The first chapter to address the Case of the Vanishing Twin. There will be 4 chapters in this part. More later.
Be well, my friends - here at least, Spring has arrived at last!
A few months ago, my mother was talking to me about my personality and traits that I have. I am a quiet, shy person until you get to know me. I always think of others before I think of myself. I never understood why others aren't like me. I always thought it was because I was raised in a christian home and was told to think of others before you think of yourself. But if I hear that someone has been hurt, for instance, I put myself in their shoes and actually feel the feelings for them. I also do not stand up for myself- a characteristic that I do not personally like, but I feel as if I am doing wrong if I speak my mind, so it stays bottled up. I think about death a lot. This is not necessarily a negative or positive thing for me. There have been thoughts of suicide in my life, as of now, I am a mother of 2, and a wife. I have other people to think about than me leaving this world.
My mom told me she didn't understand why I'm that way. Then I started thinking, well my biggest fear in my life is to be left alone. And I started thinking about it, and everytime I turn around, someone is leaving me. When I was born December 3, my mother had me at 26 weeks pregnant. I was a twin and the doctors thought my placenta was infected, so they induced the delivery. My mother had other complications trying to get pregnant, and when she was pregnant. I survived, my brother was crushed by my mothers uterus during delivery. While my mother was planning a funeral for her new son, I was in NICU fighting for my life. I stayed in the intensive care unit with nurses watching me around the clock. I weighed 1 lb. 10 oz at birth. My skin was transparent, and I still hadnt developed features, such as fingernails. I stayed in the hospital through Christmas and Easter that year. I was allowed to go home in March. Beyond belief of nurses and doctors, I had survived! All the prayers and blessings kept me alive!
I was always afraid that I would be left alone in this world one day. The thought of that shadowed my young life often. When others argued or fought, I would try to be peace maker and try to stop it. I thought that if I could do something for someone else, everyone would be happy and all would be fine. Well, needless to say, I have finally learned that you can't please everyone. You can't make others happy if they don't want to be. I am still trying to please others, but look after my own life too. I have just started researching twins, to see if there were any reasons that I am the way that I am to better understand myself. I really want healing in my life. And to stop these negative feelings and thoughts that run through my head. While researching, I found out that there really is no information on womb twin survivors. This has compelled me to want to know more. And if there are 1 in 10 in this world that are survivors, then we need to help each other and ourselves to understand the feelings and reasons why we are the way we are. I want to join Womb twin to be a part of this organization and to begin the healing process myself, and to help others in any way I can to better understand these thoughts and feelings for them to go on with their lives.
Now thats more like it! Lets forget scorn, derision and all the other forms of verbal abuse that some people like to throw at me, because they are so full of rage and hate and need a place to dump it.
Here is a story that inspires me and shows that womb twin survivors are indeed a neglected group and I for one will try and do something about it.
Onward! Chapter 9 will be about the history of twin research. The first chapter to address the Case of the Vanishing Twin. There will be 4 chapters in this part. More later.
Be well, my friends - here at least, Spring has arrived at last!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Three groups of womb twin survivors
There are, I have found, various sub-groups of womb twin survivors. Right at the start, I found three distinct groups, (I called them M type, C type and D type for want of a better term) and despite all kinds of analysis, six different lists of questions and examining over a thousand stories, those three groups are persistent, so there must be something in this, mainly because I did not expect it, so I know Im not making it up.
I have reached a tentative conclusion about this, and so I have made up some user-friendly names for these groups (No one likes to be categorised as a "type" that is so impersonal!)
GEMMY - they were once a fraternal (dizygotic) twin (After Castor and Pollux, Gemini twins)
CHIRO - sole survivors of a triplet set where two of the triplets were monozygotic twins (After Chiron, or Kyron or Cheiron, depending on where you look)
MIMI - they were once a monozygotic (identical) twin (Two individuals in one, each of them a ME.)
At the very start of this in 2003 I quickly found GEMMY and CHIRO, but MIMI took a while longer and is only coming clear this year.
Now Charles Boklage suggests in his work ( he did some statistical work on the incidence of vanishing twin syndrome in 1990) that most of the twins lost before birth are probably monozygotic (and male, which is interesting: most womb twin survivors who come to me are female.) That means therefore that there are far more MIMI survivors than there are GEMMY or CHIRO survivors. But my research has not uncovered them yet, for they have not come forward. I wonder why not?
I have reached a tentative conclusion about this, and so I have made up some user-friendly names for these groups (No one likes to be categorised as a "type" that is so impersonal!)
GEMMY - they were once a fraternal (dizygotic) twin (After Castor and Pollux, Gemini twins)
CHIRO - sole survivors of a triplet set where two of the triplets were monozygotic twins (After Chiron, or Kyron or Cheiron, depending on where you look)
MIMI - they were once a monozygotic (identical) twin (Two individuals in one, each of them a ME.)
At the very start of this in 2003 I quickly found GEMMY and CHIRO, but MIMI took a while longer and is only coming clear this year.
Now Charles Boklage suggests in his work ( he did some statistical work on the incidence of vanishing twin syndrome in 1990) that most of the twins lost before birth are probably monozygotic (and male, which is interesting: most womb twin survivors who come to me are female.) That means therefore that there are far more MIMI survivors than there are GEMMY or CHIRO survivors. But my research has not uncovered them yet, for they have not come forward. I wonder why not?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Great work in Canada
Lynda Haddon is doing great work with the parents of multiples in Canada. see her blog here. She has a discussion board for parents and she is not afraid to bring up the possibility that the loss of their twin or multiple can have an effect on the surviving twin or multiple. What a different story from the twins and multiple births association here in Britain - When I told them of my work they didn't want to know - they said:" If our pregnant women heard about this, they would freak out!" and that was the end of that discussion. However that was five years ago now, the idea is much more current and the vanishing twin is seen more and more on the ultrasound screens. Maybe I should approach them again and see if their attitude has changed. After all, my new initiative, just starting, is to reach out to the parents of young womb twin survivors.
Any readers of this blog who live in Canada may wish to make contact with Lynda. Also we have a page on the wombtwin.com website for womb twin survivors around the world and the Canada page is not taken up yet. Anyone intersted in being the contact person for Canada, and maybe also be editor of that page? If you are interested, contact me.
Any readers of this blog who live in Canada may wish to make contact with Lynda. Also we have a page on the wombtwin.com website for womb twin survivors around the world and the Canada page is not taken up yet. Anyone intersted in being the contact person for Canada, and maybe also be editor of that page? If you are interested, contact me.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
I've found a control group!
I have been on a forum with people who believe in critical thinking, and after the lambasting I got in December from an individual on the wombtwin forum (see "I've been flamed" below) about my research results, I am beginning to think I may be going the wrong way about this. So I asked for some advice from people who reckon to know.
Anyhow, just recently I've had quite a run-in with a few of them see here.
The latest post is sensational! (It concerns a Dr Ross, who is researching some kind of psychic ability)
[If that's what I've been doing to you, please leave now by the side entrance, for I have been told that you are obviously mentally fragile and easily manipulated. But dont tell me, or I may be terribly upset because it may dampen my fragile little Ego which I am bolstering with my Cult.]
Wow! If I wanted a group of people to compare notes with, this is it. Absolutely sure that they are not womb twin survivors, and even if they were, that it would not leave any impression on their psyche. Great!
Today I know what to do: to find a group of absolute and utter sceptics to complete the questionnaire for me and hey presto! there is my control group, which I have been looking for for years, so I can begin to make comparisons.
All I have to do is to find 700 sceptics to match the 700 questionnaires - I wonder where I start?
The trouble is, can I be absolutely sure that sceptics are not sceptical because they are womb twin survivors? That is always the problem.......
But that is for the future. The chapters continue to develop. Chapter 9 now.
After all. I must keep busy "iatrogenically producing false survivors or twins", not to mention "bolstering my self-anointed authority. " With all that to do, Im not sure how I will have time for any more research!
What fun this is!
Anyhow, just recently I've had quite a run-in with a few of them see here.
The latest post is sensational! (It concerns a Dr Ross, who is researching some kind of psychic ability)
- What I was implying is that you and Dr.Colin Ross are exploiting vulnerable people for your own purposes through fraudulent therapy.
- Both of you cling onto refuted and unscientific thoughts and beliefs as if they were a religion to be worshipped uncritically.
- You support your delusions through a network of others within that cult.
- You encourage mentally fragile and easily manipulated people to convert to your beliefs by fraudualently claiming authority in an area that you have no authority in.
- You iatrogenically produced false survivors or twins and documented your results while maintaining your self annointed authourity which ultimately perpetuates this quackery.
[If that's what I've been doing to you, please leave now by the side entrance, for I have been told that you are obviously mentally fragile and easily manipulated. But dont tell me, or I may be terribly upset because it may dampen my fragile little Ego which I am bolstering with my Cult.]
Wow! If I wanted a group of people to compare notes with, this is it. Absolutely sure that they are not womb twin survivors, and even if they were, that it would not leave any impression on their psyche. Great!
Today I know what to do: to find a group of absolute and utter sceptics to complete the questionnaire for me and hey presto! there is my control group, which I have been looking for for years, so I can begin to make comparisons.
All I have to do is to find 700 sceptics to match the 700 questionnaires - I wonder where I start?
The trouble is, can I be absolutely sure that sceptics are not sceptical because they are womb twin survivors? That is always the problem.......
But that is for the future. The chapters continue to develop. Chapter 9 now.
After all. I must keep busy "iatrogenically producing false survivors or twins", not to mention "bolstering my self-anointed authority. " With all that to do, Im not sure how I will have time for any more research!
What fun this is!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Who is the useful enemy for a womb twin survivor?
This quote from a recently published business book:
Having an enemy gives you a great story to tell customers, too. Taking a stand always stands out. People get stoked by conflict. They take sides. Passions are ignited. And that’s a good way to get people to take notice.
I need to discover who my enemies are then I can "pick a fight and inflame passions and get noticed."
Sounds good but maybe a bit exhausting? In business its the Other car manufacturer, in education is the Other School; in the family it's the Truculent Teenager. I suppose starting a war does make the papers: peace is not at all sensational for journalists.
Who should be my enemy what is my war? What should be my "stand"?
I suppose it's this:
I have decided to believe womb twin survivors who have no proof of their twin, when they say they believe they lost a twin before birth.
Let them laugh, jeer and throw scorn on my naive beliefs. Let them call me a weirdo. I am not going to change my mind now. Not after seven years of research, hundreds of case histories etc.
Do I want a helpful enemy? No, not really. I have hundreds of friends now - they are all womb twin survivors. I dont need a war. Anyone who wants a war with me will just get ignored. I will ignore them - but not insult them as they frequently insult me (yes I have had plenty of that, see previous posts) they are just ignorant. Maybe when they read my new book they will understand.
Well that's a relief. No need for a war, just calm, clear thinking and lots of hard work. That will do it. (I hope.)
So. Now on to chapter eight......
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Friday, March 05, 2010
Hermaphrodites
I have I think finally fought my way through the medical ramifications of the death of a twin before birth. I was not expecting to find so much about chimeras and hermaphrodites, and the latest chapter, which concentrates on the way that twins unite, does end with that, but I got so exhausted I just stopped writing and I will revisit this in the second draft.
Hermaphrodite
If you are a chimera and merged with your DZ twin and he or she was the same sex as you, then in the absence of any skin or eye colour anomalies, there would be little proof, unless you happened to take a DNA test. However, if you merged with your DZ twin and he or she was the opposite sex to you, chimerism may be more easily identified. Chimeras that have both male and female cells are called “hermaphodite.”
This rather exotic term is derived from Greek mythology. Hermaphroditus was a son of Hermes and Aphrodite. The nymph Salmacis fell in love with him and prayed to be forever united with him. They became joined in a single body that retained characteristics of both sexes.
The general understanding of a hermaphrodite is a person who is genetically both male and female, and has the sexual organs of both sexes. In fact, experts say that hermaphroditism is a spectrum, from normal fertile males with all sexual equipment present and intact, to normal, fertile females, also with all sexual organs present and intact. But in the midst of this spectrum there are people with the sexual characteristics of the opposite sex. They are described as “inter-sex” if their bodies express both sexes, such as having both sets of genitalia, and “transsexual” if they begin life as one sex but have an overwhelming desire to change to the opposite sex.
In the medical literature there is so much emphasis on people with sexual ambiguity or other gonadal problems, that the “ normal” male/female chimeras remain unnoticed, simply because they look and act normal.
Now its time to write about our non- human womb companions - moles, fibroids and of course our old friend the placenta......
If you are a chimera and merged with your DZ twin and he or she was the same sex as you, then in the absence of any skin or eye colour anomalies, there would be little proof, unless you happened to take a DNA test. However, if you merged with your DZ twin and he or she was the opposite sex to you, chimerism may be more easily identified. Chimeras that have both male and female cells are called “hermaphodite.”
This rather exotic term is derived from Greek mythology. Hermaphroditus was a son of Hermes and Aphrodite. The nymph Salmacis fell in love with him and prayed to be forever united with him. They became joined in a single body that retained characteristics of both sexes.
The general understanding of a hermaphrodite is a person who is genetically both male and female, and has the sexual organs of both sexes. In fact, experts say that hermaphroditism is a spectrum, from normal fertile males with all sexual equipment present and intact, to normal, fertile females, also with all sexual organs present and intact. But in the midst of this spectrum there are people with the sexual characteristics of the opposite sex. They are described as “inter-sex” if their bodies express both sexes, such as having both sets of genitalia, and “transsexual” if they begin life as one sex but have an overwhelming desire to change to the opposite sex.
In the medical literature there is so much emphasis on people with sexual ambiguity or other gonadal problems, that the “ normal” male/female chimeras remain unnoticed, simply because they look and act normal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)