Womb twin surviviors and MS

 It is possible that people with MS are womb twin survivors. Why do I say that?

BECAUSE ITS AN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

Muscular sclerosis is a condition where the nervous system gradually deteriorates, leading to a gradual loss of bodily function, because the individual nerve cells are being destroyed by the immune system. 

This article about MS and a twin study suggests that there is more to MS than genetics. 

Twin studies provide an opportunity to compare genetically identical siblings (identical twins) with twins who do not share identical genes (fraternal twins). If a disease is under genetic control, identical twins should both have MS more frequently than fraternal twins. The risk for developing MS in an unaffected fraternal twin is 2%, and the risk in an identical twin is 25-30%. These data strongly support the hypothesis that genetic factors play a significant role in disease susceptibility. However, they also point to a strong environmental influence because only a minority of genetically identical twins are both affected with MS.

This essay on MS lists some of the main symptoms and has some good links

MS is a demyelinating disease. Specifically, degeneration of myelin, a material that is composed mainly of fats and serves as an insulation for the nerves, much like the covering of an electric wire, degenerates. This fatty insulation allows a nerve to transmit its impulses with lightning-like speed, enabling people to move almost without thinking. The loss of this myelin insulation causes what is, in effect, a short-circuiting so that a person loses the ability to make smooth, rapid, and coordinated movements. With multiple sclerosis, the loss of myelin appears to the naked eye as a hardened sclerotic (scar) area. These areas are multiple within the central nervous system, thus the term multiple sclerosis.

 This year MS was proven to be an autoimmune disease.

Experts had previously debated whether MS is a degenerative disease that causes immune system inflammation but this research suggests it's the other way around, according to Compston - and that can guide future treatments.  "It is now clear that multiple sclerosis is primarily an immunological disease," Compston told Reuters. "This is the way to nail this disease and get on top of it."
The study was published in the August 11 issue of Nature.

Autoimmune diseases have been connected to microchimerism.  (Cells from the mother that pass the placenta into the fetus, and vice versa.) [See article here]

 Microchimerism, the persistence of foreign cells thought to derive from previous pregnancies, has been associated with autoimmune diseases

 Chimerism is also connected to being a womb twin survivor.

It looks like the immune system is trigger-happy,  because of the tissues  with  foreign DNA , and if all goes well an the immune system is strong then there is little or no reaction but when there is stress, the immune system is triggered.

All hypothetical of course on my part, but worth exploring.

The research is pointing towards a form of microchimerism that is not the same DNA as the mother's cells at all but from another source:

A fetal or maternal source was identified in all patients who tested positive by HLA-specific qPCR. Unexpectedly, a few RNs ( rheumatoid nodules) also contained Mc ( microchimerism) without evidence for a fetal or maternal source, suggesting alternative sources.

Dare we believe that this "source" of foreign cells is the vanished twin and that blood stem cells can pass from one twin to another? An eminent histologist once told me that this was possible...... At least one medical report suggests it directly....

More to discover,  but interesting so far!

The chimera - the twin inside me

Here is an article about the twin inside me  - a chimera

Lydia Fairchild was twenty one when she had her first baby. Despite being separated from the baby's father, Jamie Townsend, she and Jamie had a second baby a year later. Another year on and and she became pregnant for the third time after which she and Jamie split up again. With no steady work and unable to support herself and the children she applied for state benefit.

Her world was about to be turned upside down.

The State Prosecutor's Office required DNA tests from Jamie to prove that he was the father of the children and, as a matter of course, Lydia was also tested.
In December 2002 she received a phone call from the prosecutor's office asking her to come in for the results. This was unusual and it soon became apparent why. The results confirmed that Jamie was the father but they also revealed that Lydia was not the mother. A normal DNA test proving a mother-child link would show a 50% match between their DNA patterns. Yet Lydia's DNA showed no match at all.

And here she is to tell her extraordinary story: 

Alfred Austermann talks about womb twin survivors

Interview with Alfred Austermann - The Vanishing Twin Syndroom or The Surviving Twin Syndrome.

About one person in ten is not alone at the beginning of the pregnancy and embarks on the journey into life together with a twin… When one of them dies, the surviving child suffers an immense shock. Even though there will be no conscious recollection of this shock later on, an enormous hole will be left and will leave its mark on a person’s entire life.

Deep-seated feelings of inexplicable longing, loneliness and guilt can result from this early loss.

Womb twin survivors in multimedia and poetry. The vanishing twin.

The concept of the vanishing twin is so subtle and extraordinary that it requires extraordinary measures to express it. Here is one example - it's strange, but stay with it and let it speak to you.



How would you express your feelings about your twin if you had the skills to do it?  People make art, sculptures, poetry.

Here is a poem...

Do twins remember the womb? Yes they do, says John James

John James

 In this article , John James, who created the Crucible Centre in Australia, writes how during a sand play session a womb twin survivor found his womb twin in the sand:

How do we identify that someone has lost a twin in the womb? One of our modalities is Sandplay, in which you place small objects into a tray filled with sand. The objects chosen and their symbolic significance usually make the meaning pretty clear.
 
Fred has little sense of achievement, and cannot form intimate or lasting bonds. In the tray he marked an almond-like shape in the sand. In the middle he placed a glass ball enclosing a skull; a fossil on the right, and between them clasped hands. A little goanna was placed on the fossil, which he said had feelings of “soft and uncertain longing.” He then remembered being told he had had a girl-twin that had died well before his birth. He then identified with the goanna and the fossil, and with the hand helplessly holding onto the departed sister. He felt he was the "dead fossil" without her. His inner ‘centre’ lay in the white hands, clasping onto the female who had gone.
 
Where are these memories held? Who remembers these feelings? In the early months the foetus does not have the physical capacity to hear or see, let alone sense or remember experiences beyond the placenta.

He concludes: 

The souls of twins in the womb form a relationship from the moment of conception, if not before. It is our souls who remember when a companion leaves, and later when we connect with our souls from the heart, the memories come flooding back, and all is forgiven.

In his article in the anthology -  Untwinned: perspectives on the death of a twin before birth,  John James writes

We have been finding through them that the ‘disappearance’ of a pre-natal twin was often having a profound impact on the whole of later life of the living twin. This was not in a few isolated cases, but in hundreds of clients. It was a possibility my teacher Elia Carisbrook had mentioned almost twenty years ago and that I discussed in my 1994 book, Notes to Transformation. It was not until the issue kept on turning up that we realised how enormous it was – both in numbers and impact.

With my wife Hilary and our partner Marg Garvan we gradually became more open to the possibility that such a death could affect the deepest psychic structures of our clients. We have now worked with more than fifty Vts situations and, based on its occurrence among our clients, we estimate it affects more than 25 percent of all conceptions. However, this proportion of one-in-four may not be reflected in the general population. It may be that the buried grief from the loss of a twin companion may induce more people to seek therapy than others. This would reduce the apparent proportion.

There is a lot of it about..... spread the world!  It's one in ten of the population, and one of them could be you....

Womb twin kids - when the rest of the family looks on in silence

When it is clear to you that there is a young womb twin survivor in the family, and no one seems to be talking about it, what can one do?  This is a problem I have had from the beginning, ever since I learned how to recognise a womb twin survivor.   I notice womb twin survivors  all the time now - people of all ages, but when the individual concerned is a child, I badly want to speak out.  But should I?  Should anyone?  Should we speak out or remain silent?

It seems that there are several reasons why  its NOT a good idea to mention it...

1. Parents may be sensitive to implied criticism, as if there must be something wrong with their child.
2. The usual scepticism about the possibility that  the loss of a twin early in pregnancy can possibly have any kind of effect on the child who survives.
3. Its a private matter and no one should interfere with how any parent brings up a child.

(Of course I  have an additional problem, in that as founder of Womb Twin  I would think that, wouldn't I? People groan every time I mention it... Not again, they cry..... understandable enough I suppose.)

But there are more reasons why its worth mentioning, but how?

The vanishing twin syndrome "appears" in a counselling session

The twin who vanished is not gone: the vague memory of  Someone Else There remains in the mind of the survivor.  A trained and aware therapist can identify a womb twin survivor by their character traits and by the way they behave and what they say in the session. A sensitive therapist who can recognise the energy in the room can see changes in the energy as the subject is aired and worked through. This movie reveals a good example of this.



Five ways to "spot" a womb twin survivor in the therapy room:

When they find a "vanishing twin" on ultrasound...

Every day, in clinics around the world, pregnant women are being told by radiologists that one of their twins is "vanishing".  The idea of "vanishing" twins hardly describes what is really going on - a tiny twin  has died, will gradually disintegrate and in time no longer be visible.  They are not spirited away and do not suddenly disappear.




It is a pity that such a term was ever invented. It encourages all kinds of false beliefs.

Embryologists discuss the vanishing twins

European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology Annual Meeting July 3-6, 2011, Stockholm

Among the subjects to be discussed will be:

• Large new study helps disentangle the relationship between maternal characteristics, IVF treatment methods and singleton IVF children
• The "vanishing twin" phenomenon: can it explain congenital abnormalities in babies born after  IVF treatment?
• Large study of outcomes after ICSI reveals factors that are most likely to affect chances of a live birth and risk of first trimester pregnancy loss

One twin is doing well, the other is fading fast and will soon no longer be visible........

Signs of a twin conception (3) bleeding in the first trimester

I was being interviewed by the BBC on one occasion about womb twin survivors. The interviewer, a young Irishman doing his best to be interesting at 6am on a subject he know virtually nothing about, scoffed, "There is no proof, just a bit of bleeding......"

"The bleeding is the proof" I countered.  And it is proof. [See here]

In a twin pregnancy the bleeding is caused by the  detachment of the placenta of one twin after death and when there are two separate chorions (di-chorionic.)

The most common identifiable causes of vaginal bleeding during early pregnancy include spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy. [more]

Bleeding during pregnancy can be a sign of miscarriage but does not necessarily mean that miscarriage is imminent. Studies show that anywhere from 20-30% of women experience some degree of bleeding in early pregnancy. Approximately half of pregnant women who bleed do not have miscarriages.[more]

When a pregnant woman carrying twins has bleeding early on in the pregnancy but twins are delivered, this can mean where was a triplet who didn't make it to birth, so the twins are both womb twin survivors.

Signs of a lost twin in pregnancy (1) The "vanishing" twin

For the next few days I will explore the visible signs, noticeable during pregnancy, of a twin conception that ends with the birth of one baby.  I will begin with the so- called "vanishing twin pregnancy." If you search this blog with the term "vanishing twin" you will find plenty of information here.  There are also three chapters in the new book, "Womb Twin Survivors" devoted to this topic.

It may be useful at this moment to continue our discussion of useful terms.  What exactly is a "vanishing" twin?

A pregnancy starts with two gestational sacs, made visible on ultrasound at an early stage and when a second scan is made at a later stage one of them has disappeared.   It is a real, physical event, made visible only on ultrasound and consequently only discovered in the 1980s.   It is subject to many misconceptions:

• It is NOT a fantasy on the part of the survivor or anything to do with the paranormal
• It is NOT the  name of a psychological syndrome, such as is described here.
• The twins are NOT removed from the womb by aliens and connected with the work of the so-called "Illuminati" as described here.
• It is NOT the same thing as "twin embolisation syndrome", as indicated here

These little lost twins do not vanish, they simply die. The term is misleading when it is used inaccurately.  If you say you "had a vanished twin" it would be more accurate to say you had a twin who died in the early weeks of pregnancy, disintegrated and left no trace at birth.  If there were traces on the placenta then the twin did not vanish, for signs were still there. 

I use the term "womb twin survivor" for a very good reason - we need a term that covers all the eventualities that can occur when a twin or multiple conception ends in the birth of one living baby, and this is it. As far as I know there is so other.  

"Vanishing twin" only describes a missing twin gestational sac, that was once visible on an ultrasound scan. We need a more general term for the situation when a twin dies in pregnancy or close to birth. 

Anyone got any suggestions?  We are still searching for a simple, global term  for this situation.  "Womb twin survivor" describes the surviving twin but not the situation of losing a twin. 

How can you know if your child is a womb twin survivor?

Here is the list of characteristic signs commonly displayed by young womb twin survivors. This has been compiled from various studies and e-mail correspondence with womb twin survivors and their parents.

* My child is very sensitive to atmosphere
* My child does not like to sleep alone in the dark
* My child is unusually aware of how people are feeling
* My child has a rich, creative imagination
* My child talks a lot about death and dying
* My child loves animals and yearns for a pet
* My child is different from other children
* My child seems to have “been here before”
* My child has an imaginary friend
* My child is interested in spirituality
* My child often seems lost and alone
* My child is hypersensitive

Of course there may be ultrasound evidence. The little lost twins have often quite disappeared by 8 weeks or so, so its the assisted pregnancies that reveal the vanished twins more often, simply because they are so carefully monitored.

For example, on this pregnancy forum here:

Or when things get very confusing, because early ultrasounds are rarely clear  enough to work out what has happened

And that sense of being alone in the experience of losing one twin early in pregnancy.

No one thinks about the possible psychological consequences for the survivor, because the parents have to wait and watch the remaining baby grow and  see if all is well in the end.  Much later, by the age of two, it becomes clear that this baby is different in some way.  Then the parents visit the children's page on the web site and  we  begin discuss the issues.

Gradually, we are working together to find ways to help these children.  If you are the parent of a vanishing twin survivor, you may like to join in with our explorations.

Chapter 9: Clues to a “vanishing” twin pregnancy

Even though a “vanishing” twin pregnancy can be symptom-free, there may be some other signs to indicate the existence of a lost twin and this chapter will explore what those may be.  Such associated factors as there are may be elusive and vague, none of them adding up to very much, so they cannot be described as “proof” of a lost twin.  The strange, deep feeling of “having once had a twin,” which is experienced by so many womb twin survivors, would seem at first to have no basis in fact.  It may be dismissed as a “mere fantasy” by those who do not understand.  Even so, do not despair if you have no proof, for there is still more to discover as we search for clues. 
    If you are a womb twin survivor and your mother is unwilling or unable to discuss this with you, the important details of her pregnancy with you may be lost to history.  Medical records may be sketchy or missing and family members may not remember anything.  If you were adopted, you have no chance of ever knowing what it was like for your birth mother during her pregnancy with you, unless of course you are able to meet her again.

Twins in the family
If there are twins among your blood relations, then perhaps you were once a twin also.  But were you a dizygotic (DZ) twin or a monozygotic (MZ) twin?

Dizygotic (DZ) twins
It has been assumed for a long time that DZ twins run in families, for there is a strong genetic basis to this kind of twinning.  The exact reason has never been clearly identified but it is probably an inherited tendency to hyper-ovulate (that is, to produce more than one egg per month.)  
    It is also possible that the environment, in particular the everyday diet, may have an effect.  As we have seen, the people of the Yoruba tribe of South Western Nigeria, for example, are the twinning champions of the world.  They eat white yams several times a day.  According to a student at Yale, the white yam is rich in a biochemical substance that seems to be linked to hyper-ovulation.  He fed white yams to rats in the laboratory and the size of their litters soon doubled.  Meanwhile, in Japan they eat no yams at all but rather eat soya beans in various forms, several times a day.  Many people believe that soya can adversely affect fertility.  Perhaps as a consequence, in Japan DZ twinning was extremely rare until the advent of ART.  
    ART has greatly increased the twinning rate. In 1998 the number of DZ twins being born, mainly as a result of ART, was considered to be at epidemic levels.  If you were conceived with the help of ART, or if there are fraternal twins in your family, this could be valuable evidence.

More about this book

Chapter 8: "Vanishing" twins revealed

"Vanishing" twins - A new term for the death of one twin in the womb

At the Third International Congress on Twin Studies, held in Jerusalem in 1980, this phenomenon was discussed and the term “vanishing twins” was coined to describe it.   A “vanishing twin” pregnancy quickly became the accepted medical term to describe a particular situation - that is, when a pregnant woman is scanned by ultrasound, two sacs are seen at the first scan but one sac has “vanished” from view by the next scan and in the end only one baby is born.

The mystery of the vanishing twin at once captured the imagination of research scientists.  In 1982, an article entitled “The Vanishing Twin” quoted nine research studies.  Another article followed shortly with the same title and quoting even more studies. In April 1986 a new term, “The Disappearing Twin” was coined by the translator of an article in Czech but it never caught on. 

The term “vanishing twin” was not considered sufficiently scientific for some scientists.  In 1992 an effort was made to translate the name into Latin,  probably in order to put the whole idea onto a more academic footing. One writer adopted the term foetus vanescens, which means “vanishing foetus”  but by then the term “vanishing twin” was too beguiling and familiar to replace with any other term.

In 1998 a comprehensive article reviewing the existing literature, was published under the title, “The Vanishing Twin.” There were over 50 references referring to various other studies.  The term was by then in common usage even though it was known that none of the twins “vanished,” in fact.  Their bodies were no longer visible on the ultrasound screen but they did not totally disappear.  In fact, in many cases there was visible evidence at birth that the twin had once existed, such as an extra placenta; a foetus papyraceous (“papery” foetus) or an empty amniotic sac attached to the placenta of the survivor. 

In the late 1990s some highly imaginative people took the word “vanished” a little too seriously. They decided that “vanished” twins had been abducted by aliens and had been literally taken from the womb.  That idea faded along with the century, as report after report on the subject of the intrauterine death of one twin was published in reputable journals.  The phenomenon of the “vanished twin” today is widely discussed by obstetricians, gynaecologists and experts in multiple pregnancy.  Among the general public some residual scepticism still remains, but not among the pregnant women who witness the disappearance of one of their twins from the ultrasound screen and ask, “Where did it go?”   

How many twins die?

Obstetricians and midwives had known for a very long time that more twins are conceived than are born.  However, no one knew until the ultrasound studies of the 1980s just how many twins were lost.

Once a sufficient number of pregnancies had been monitored to be able to produce some reliable statistics, people began to discuss the “vanishing twin rate” as related to the general twinning rate.  Various painstaking ultrasound studies of twin pregnancies have been carried out in the USA and England to try and find out how many twins die before birth.  The results in each case seem to be consistent.  In about a third of twin pregnancies, one embryo is seen to disappear at some stage in the first twelve weeks.  

Unfortunately for researchers,  most routine scans on normally-conceived pregnancies are carried out after twelve weeks of pregnancy 

have passed, by which time many twin embryos have died and disintegrated, leaving an apparently “singleton” pregnancy.  However, scans are made earlier when the various assisted reproduction technologies (ART) are used to create a pregnancy.  As a result, we now know much more about the early loss of a twin. 

5: The death of a twin in the first trimester

I had dozens of appropriate references for this chapter because I have spent years unearthing research studies about the death of a twin  in the first three months of pregnancy.  The most controversial idea in this book is that, even when your twin died in the first trimester, (the first 12 weeks) this can still leave some vague psychological impression, somewhere in the back of your mind.  So I made sure I got my facts right.  If I am to be taken to task on this, and if I can demonstrate a solid foundation for the physical aspects of this, then  it will be a good start.

So. Here is your snippet for today, about bleeding, which is one of the most widely recognised signs of a twin lost in the first trimester.

Chapter 5: the death of a twin in the first trimester

Vaginal bleeding
Various studies suggest that vaginal bleeding complicates a quarter of all pregnancies.  The nature of that bleeding has been subjected to careful analysis.  The term “light spotting” is used to describe the situation when a woman discovers bleeding by wiping but does not require use of sanitary protection.  “Heavy bleeding” soaks underwear or requires a pad.  In one study, three quarters of women who experienced bleeding reported “a single episode of light spotting” in the first trimester. 
Spotting or slight vaginal bleeding, at a stage when one is still unsure of a pregnancy, is a private matter.  For most women it is too embarrassing to discuss at all.  Furthermore, according to several studies, most women with vaginal bleeding in the early weeks of pregnancy go on to achieve a live birth, so an episode of light spotting could easily be overlooked or ignored.    Until the advent of ultrasound and its use in early pregnancy, vaginal bleeding was an unexplored area.  It is now generally assumed that significant vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy probably signals the foetal death of one twin. One study of first trimester bleeding revealed a “blighted” ovum in every case.     

When one MZ twin dies in a mono-chorionic twin pair (ie. sharing a chorion) the placental blood supply shifts and changes as a result of the changed demands made upon it.  There may be some leakage of blood from around the placenta.  Mother may notice this as a show of blood.
In a dichorionic twin pregnancy (i.e. with separate chorions) the twins may be DZ or MZ and the two placentas are implanted separately.  If the two separate placentas are fused together, then the placenta of the dead twin remains in the womb, attached to the surviving twin’s placenta.  Even so, the changes in the placenta when one twin dies may cause some bleeding.

Vaginal bleeding misinterpreted
When a mother notices some vaginal bleeding, depending on the stage of pregnancy that has been reached, she may assume that this is her menstrual flow back again and she is not pregnant after all.  If she knows she certainly is pregnant; if she has no idea she is carrying twins and no ultrasound scan is made to check, she may assume that the bleeding signals the end of her pregnancy and that her baby is lost.  Later on, experiencing all the symptoms of pregnancy, she may take a test and be surprised to find she is still pregnant.  After an “incomplete miscarriage” – i.e. where there has been bleeding but no sign of a foetus or placenta, a doctor may recommend a dilatation and curettage procedure (D&C) to clear all remaining detritus of the pregnancy out of the womb.  This is to prevent a major bleeding episode or an infection, which can happen if parts of the placenta are left behind. For many years it has been common practice to carry out a D&C after a miscarriage and it is probable that many sole surviving twins have been “surgically removed” in this way after the miscarriage of their co-twin.

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Vanishing twins, UFOs, aliens and indigos

Caryl Dennis is a womb twin survivor, but she would not call herself that.  She is the moderator of the "Vanishing Twin" forum, which she set up in 2001.

Caryl has  written this about herself:

My name is Caryl Dennis and I am a single twin.  I am not a doctor or psychologist.  The following answers are based on my research into and experience with the so-called Vanishing Twin Phenomenon (or Syndrome), subsequently referred to as “VTP”.   

I have communicated telepathically and in the dreamtime with my “vanished” twin, whom I call Karyl.  I also have siblings who are twins and my youngest brother’s twin also vanished.  I am the creator and moderator of the Vanishing Twin Yahoo E-Group, which has been going strong since 2001, and I researched and co-authored The Millennium Children: Tales of the Shift (1997), which contains a large section on the VTP.

She was on Blog Talk Radio yesterday talking about the "vanishing twin."

LISTEN HERE

There is a strong connection ( for some womb twin survivors) with "psychic phenomena."  Caryl  heard a voice in her head and she received information from her, and in the end she realised it was her twin.  She says that her twin "shares the same body" with her.

She has linked the loss of a twin to UFO experiences, visits by aliens; the "indigo" children and the "starseeds", who are people who feel they are here to "help the planet."

The indigo children are also womb twin survivors, a real group of kids with special gifts, often hyperaware and highly intuitive.

Sadly, when I put up a Wikipedia piece under the title " womb twin survivors"  I  was given short shrift and the article lasted only a short time before it was wiped as "unscientific."  The first remark was:

That wombtwin survival stuff is totally bogus on the same level as starsign astrology and alien mindcontrol.  It doesn't really deserve mentioning in an article about a medical phenomenon. (sven@scientist.com)

Read a fascinating discussion here on Wikipedia and PLEASE add your opinions to help this along!!!

Just sorting out the 200 plus scientific references for my latest book...................

Spreading the word about womb twin survivors

Gradually but inevitably,  news about womb twin survivors is spreading.   My womb twin survivor friend (and there  are dozens of them now, all great people)  has been doing some research and has put a note on his Face Book page. 

What does a foetus experience in the womb?

The popular view, even today, is that a foetus is 'nothing but a bunch of cells', 'a blob of jelly', 'just an extension of the mother's body' and that it has no thoughts, feelings or ability to sense, experience or interact with its surroundings.

Recent research, however, is beginning to reveal a very different picture. In the last 15-20 years, a lot of work has been done with single survivors of twin and multiple pregnancies. Much of the progress made has been a result of advances in ultrasound technology, which have enabled doctors to see with unprecedented clarity what is going on in the wombs of pregnant women.  read more.....

Then there is Sylvia, a writer, who has written a story about a womb twin survivor and her journey to  discovering more of herself and how the loss of her twin has impacted in her life.  There is a post on the worldwide Womb Twin blog about it.

It is not uncommon for people, seemingly ignorant of this ‘loss’ to develop fantasies about “being with someone else,” or needing to live their lives for two. Is it a personal memory of womb life or an intuition of an unexpressed part of their mother’s mind?   If told later in life about the loss, there are often feelings of relief at not being “crazy” but sometimes too, anger and distress at not being told all along. 

Sylvia Dickey Smith‘s novel. A WAR OF HER OWN makes an important contribution to womb-twin survivors by raising awareness of this phenomenon and educating others as to what can be its long-term possible emotional effects. read more

Not to mention the work of Alfred Austermann whose book " The surviving twin syndrome,"  translated from the original German, details the psychological effects upon the womb twin survivor and how they can be discovered and explained.


I could go on and mention prenatal psychotherapy and all the other therapies that workn on prebirth influences: I could list the many blogs that mention the "vanishing twin" syndrome.   There are several Womb Twin blogs now on this subject as the Internet does its work and people are at last beginning to talk about this thing that so many experts insist cannot possibly happen : that even when a twin is lost after just a few weeks of life in the womb, there is a profound and lifelong effect on the sole survivor.


There are more than 600,000,000 womb twin survivors in the world. I am one and perhaps you are another.  That's two of us.  Let's spread the world and find the others. I have found about 1000, but that's only a drop in the ocean. There is more work to be done and more womb twin survivors to be found. 


If you have posted on your blog or facebook about this, please let me know the link and I'll put it here.


Let's get together: - united, we will triumph over  the sceptics. They have absolutely no idea what we are talking about, but then 90% of the population don't understand this.  That doesnt mean we have to listen to them. We know, they don't. 


Back to the book: I will have Part One, "The Making of You" which is full of all the medical facts about conception and twinning plus diagrams,  ready today for the FINAL proof reading. The cover is now ready.

The final cover

Save money and make your order in advance here ( all advance copies will be personally signed by me. Gosh.

Risk for the survivors of "vanising twin" phenomenon

There are many risks for the survivors of a "vanishing twin" pregnancy, see here..

Research from the 2010 Annual European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE).

For instance, vaginal bleeding in the first trimester  ( sign of a lost twin) increased the risk of

• preeclampsia,
• premature or very premature delivery and
• more than doubled the risk of low birth weight and very low birth weight.
• These risks were further increased after detection of an intrauterine haematoma.

The survivor in a vanishing twin pregnancy (a twin pregnancy in which one twin miscarries very early in the pregnancy) was at increased risk of

• premature or very premature delivery,
• had double the risk of low birth weight,
• three times the risk of very low birth weight, and
• more than three times the risk of perinatal death.

 The researchers reviewed previously published studies and determined that early pregnancy complications increase the risk that the pregnancy will have complications and future pregnancies are at higher risk also.

And that is not to mention the psychological difficulties.......

The grief of the parent of a "vanishing twin" survivor

Two fraternal twins dance their twin bond into a beautiful and moving interaction. Not a dry eye in the house!

Watch it dry-eyed if you can!

A "Vanishing twin" pregnancy: should I tell my child?

Lucy and Jack, after several years of IVF treatment, were delighted to find they were expecting twins. A scan at eight weeks showed two sacs, each with a tiny fetus, but a few weeks later there was only one baby left alive: the other sac was empty. Lucy went onto the Internet to find out more about vanishing twins and found my site at wombtwin.com. She emailed me the next day,  “It seems that the remaining twin may have some psychological problems: what do I tell my child?”

Then I heard from Margaret. Like Jane she had noticed a little spotting in the early weeks of her first pregnancy - which is a sign of a vanished twin. Her daughter Elinor, now aged six, was born at thirty-six weeks. She was small but very strong. She is left-handed.

“She has always been very mature for her age,” Margaret told me. “She has always been very nurturing with her two younger sisters. She gets very frightened when she hears loud noises. She tends to be reserved and somewhat clingy. Sometimes when she cries, she says that no one loves her and no one understands her.  Since she started school I have noticed that she often talks to herself, as if she is in her own little world.  Then today she asked me where her sister was!  I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say.”

My research with hundreds of womb twin survivors from all around the world is beginning to show us that womb twin survivors are often sensitive, caring people. They are so sensitive to others that they feel as others do. This means they make wonderful therapists and nurses. 

They can become distressed at some point about the loss of their twin but not all of them do.  If they know for sure that they once had a twin, it simply becomes part of who they are.  If they know they were once a twin then, when they feel sad or lonely they can know they are are responding perfectly normally. After all, they did lose their "other half."   For this reason, if your child is a womb twin survivor, it is best to make this clear as soon as you can.  Research has shown that it is helpful to tell your child, as soon as possible and in the calmest and most natural way, the truth of what happened to their twin.

It is important for both parents to be in agreement on this. Sadly, Alice, who is now 35 years old was pregnant with her son Jason when doctors detected two sacs in the eighth week and later on there was only one. “Jason has always been complaining about not being meant to live and missing his brother,” says Alice, “ but my husband thinks this can't be a suitable explanation. I feel there is no way I can talk about those things without being labelled crazy myself or hurting my child.” As a result, Jason, now aged ten, has not yet been told about his twin.

It is normal for a lone twin to have feelings of loneliness, emptiness and sorrow and that goes for womb twin survivors too. If you have had a twin pregnancy that ended up with one baby then you have a womb twin survivor in the family. Rather than leave your child with unexplained feelings, tell him or her about the lost twin - make it real.

Tell them early in life, and make sure you are well informed about the details of  your pregnancy, because you may find that as they grow up they will want to know more and more about what happened.      

It can help everyone if you find other parents of womb twin survivors and team up for mutual support. Not everyone will believe that the loss of a co-twin so early in life can leave an impression. Validate your own child's feelings in the face of public scepticism, and they will never complain that "no one understands how they feel."