A report in the New York times of 29th May describes the life of two craniopagus twins, and asks the question - " Could conjoined twins share a mind?" 

It seems that they do. These twins are 4 years old. If one drinks too fast, the other complains that her stomach  is too full.  If one has a dummy to suck, the other is soothed.  The writer, Susan Dominus, spent five days with the twins to observe them, and the family. Twins evidently run in this family, in a variety of different ways.

Chapter 11: The grief of a lone twin

This chapter will explore various aspects of the grief of the lone twin.  If your twin died, it will hopefully also reassure you that it is natural, in the circumstances, to have feelings of grief about your twin.  The grief of twin-loss is completely different from the grief engendered by other family bereavement experiences, such as a parent, sister or brother.  Few people understand this difference.  If you are the only womb twin survivor in the family, you may end up totally isolated in your grief.
The death of your own co-twin can be a catastrophe. Your entire inner world, constructed since conception around your personal role as a twin, is completely shattered. 

The twin bond
The grief that twins experience when their twin dies is without equal anywhere in the field of human relations, for nowhere else in human life is the love so deep.  We grieve as much as we love and we love as much as we are bonded to one another.  The grief feels as acute as the bond is deep.  The bond between twins is the closest bond in Nature, so is all the  more painful when the bond is broken.
    The twin bond differs from all other possible attachment bonds formed in the lifetime of a human being. Twins live entwined lives at every level imaginable.  For a twin, the twin bond is the primary and deepest attachment bond to which all other attachment bonds are subservient.   This unique bond begins at conception and lasts a lifetime; it truly is life-long and transcends even death.

A foetal assumption
The twin bond formed in the womb arises out of a “foetal assumption.”  The foetus, knowing no other situation since the beginning of life, can be said to take for granted that the co-twin has Always Been There and is simply part of The Way Things Are.  So the deepest attachment bond of all is not created in the same way as other attachment bonds formed in born life. The twin bond is formed out of the certain knowledge of a consistent Presence, somewhere close by.  It has been pointed out that this deep childhood attachment is not some kind of infantile dependency and is particularly string bwteen MZ twins. Like all other strong human attachments, the twin bond is necessary for the development of both twins, throughout their lives. 

A preoccupation with the co-twin
For twins, the whole idea of twinning itself is a major preoccupation, with particular emphasis on their own pair.  DZ  twins differ markedly from MZ twins in the way they relate to others, such as in the way they make and share their friends.  MZ twins may share as many as half of their friends, but then they share so much already and have always done so since their earliest days.  DZ twins share fewer - about 25% for same sex and only 5% for opposite sex. Opposite-sex twins may end up at different schools and spend much of their lives living separately.  The bond between opposite sex DZ twins is much less intimate than same-sex DZ twins and MZ twins.  MZ twins sometimes end up marrying another set of MZ twins and living very close to each other.  Clearly, only another MZ twin would understand and empathize with the need to speak to one’s co-twin several times a day.

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10 weeks! Twins reacting to each other in the womb!

At 65 days of gestation, twins can be observed interacting.   That's  9-10 weeks.

Beautiful coloured photo image link here  of 65 day foetus in the sac.

"Twin pregnancies provide us with the opportunity to observe first reactions towards touch in utero, and this study illustrates the onset and development of these contacts. Forty women with twin pregnancies volunteered to take part in this study.

Between 8 and 12 weeks' gestation, ultrasound examinations were performed transvaginally, and from 13 weeks onwards transabdominally, at weekly intervals. 

Primary contacts followed an action-reaction model, and usually lasted < 3 s. These contacts were initially slow and then became fast. 

The first reactions of the co-twin towards touch were observed at 65 postmenstrual days. Contacts of longer duration between both bodies including extremities, or contacts initiated by sucking movements towards the co-twin were defined as complex contacts and were observed from 85 and 92 post-menstrual days, respectively. 

Nearly all contacts occurred significantly earlier in monochorionic compared to dichorionic twins. Female/female pairs seemed to develop complex body contacts earlier than male/male pairs, but for the onset of other contacts we have not yet found significant differences between gender combinations."

Here is the article

Wonderful.  We knew, didn't we? I  knew that I could remember my twin, somewhere nearby twitching around. I certainly knew when he wasn't there any more.....

BUT this article was published FIFTEEN YEARS ago. Who talks about this? We should be shouting it to the world!

The time is NOW !!! If you are reading this, please spread the word......

A new article: Attachment issues associated with the loss of a co-twin before birth

Abstract

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. 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, for 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 - is 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 wombtwin 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 reason for their feelings and attitudes can be a great relief. Then therapists can facilitate a healing process that will enable the survivor to begin to build close relationships with others, which will help to combat the prevailing sense of isolation and grief commonly experienced by the bereaved twin.

Published today in the journal Attachment and Human Development.

The identical twin bond

On the wombtwin forum [take a look here] there has been some discussion about the twin bond, formed in the womb. Now there does seem to be some research that says that the identical twin bond is stronger than the fraternal twin bond, in that separated identical twins, meeting for the first time after a lifetime, are bonded to each other within seconds, whereas separated fraternal twins sometimes meet as strangers, and occasionally fall in love and want to marry each other, which causes a lot of legal problems. The bond is strong, but not the same as with an identical twin.

As a surviving fraternal twin myself, this is something I have neglected in my work with wombtwin survivors. We need new ways to help lone identical twins.

A good suggestion is the surrogate twin. This is an idea that came to be from the USA. It seems that if two lone surviving identical twins of the same sex adopt one another, this is healing for them both. This is not a homosexual relationship: this is a spiritual connection and is made for the sole purpose of supporting one another through the healing process.

Here is a little quote from a story in The Silent Cry;

Together my adopted twin and I are growing into our individuality
so that someday we will be soul friends, more so than twins.

Do any readers want to comment on this?
Has anyone tried this idea? Did it work or not?