The death of a twin before birth - attachment issues

Attachment issues associated with the loss of a twin before birth: article.

Introduction
A brief study of twins and their relationship quickly reveals what is
known as the ‘twin bond’. This is the primary attachment bond for twins
and it is quite unlike any other bond (Tancredy & Fraley, 2006). Twins
live entwined lives, at every level imaginable. This article will explore the ways
in which the twin bond differs from all other attachment bonds formed in the
lifetime of a human being. We will consider the bond between identical twins
first, in their total preoccupation for each other and their constant struggle for
identity, individuality, and equality within the twin pair. Then we will take a
look at fraternal twinning and how different this bonding is and how it varies
widely among twins and between twin pairs, according to the gender mix and
genetic differences.

Finally, we will examine the psychology of ‘wombtwin survivors’, who are
people who started life as a twin but whose co-twin died before birth. This
study will reveal how the twin attachment bond is created in the womb at the
very beginning of life and lasts a lifetime. Wombtwin survivors display many
of the same characteristics of twins who are born together, as the effects of the
bond between twins – the preoccupation; the paradox; the lack of a sense of
identity and the need for the physical presence of the lost co-twin – are also
present in the life of the sole survivor.

The survivor once shared a womb, and sometimes even a placenta and amniotic
sac, with their twin, but this happened too early to be accessible as a
memory in born life. However, many womb twin survivors are not aware of
their twin. Unknowingly troubled by the loss of their twin but unable to find
words to express their feelings of loss and sorrow, they are greatly helped when
they are taken seriously as being genuinely bereaved by the death of their twin
before birth. Just to know that there is a normal and rational.....

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