Womb twin survivors in flm - Unborn

So they made a film of it.  It was some time ago, but I am so sorry that it had to be a horror film.




The worst line is "By living, you denied it entry into this world."   Not a good thing for any womb twin survivor  to hear. It is the worst nightmare, that you are the cause of your own twin's death.

But the film does tackle some of the more difficult themes, such as feeling haunted by your twin. It also suggests that an exorcism can help.  She has a dibbuk, she says.



Funny that they didn't make so much of the lost twin theme, just the horror? I'll look a bit deeper....

This man hated it:

A young woman discovers her stillborn twin brother's ghost is haunting her in an effort to infiltrate the world of the living but there may be more to the story than just an angry undead twin, something far more ancient lurks in the darkness. Jamby wants to be born now. *groan*

It's sunk without trace, just like the vanished twin. Not surprising really, I suppose.

The Survivor - A true story of a young womb twin survivor

The Survivor by Lynne Schulz    (read more here)    


This book tells the real story of a young womb twin survivor, and what effect the pre-birth loss of his twin sister had upon him. In her contribution to the 2007 anthology, "Untwinned: perspectives on the death of a twin before birth", Lynne Schulz explained what it is like to be the parent of a womb twin survivor, living in a disbelieving world.

The anthology

As the mother of a surviving twin I have experienced ridicule and disbelief from friends, family, child carers and school teachers whenever I have even mentioned that my eldest son is a surviving twin, and therefore different to singleton children. In an attempt to make the lives of other twin loss families a little easier, myself and a small dedicated team set out to try and educate those who came into contact with multiple loss families such as my own to be a little more empathetic towards our unique needs.

Twinship evokes an enormous amount of curiosity and interest throughout our society. The media are often guilty of turning the whole topic of multiple births into a circus event.my second book, The Survivor, I look at how twinship is viewed in different ways. Interestingly enough, the whole concept of twinship continues to be shrouded in mystical, magical, even romantic notions. 

In explaining the differences between a singleton and multiple pregnancy, I want you to imagine that I am holding two apples. Each piece of fruit represents a pregnancy. The first apple is one complete unit, whilst the other has been sliced into two. Even though one apple has been divided into portions, it remains exactly like the first one, i.e. one whole, healthy apple. Now, if we take away one half of the divided piece of fruit, what do we have left ? We are left with part of an apple. It has not turned itself into a banana, or a grapefruit.It remains an apple.
 

When a baby dies in a twin pregnancy, it is like removing half of the apple. The picture now appears out of balance. It does not look quite right to the untrained eye. That is precisely how a surviving twin appears to the world – a slightly unbalanced picture. Something is missing and behavioural patterns and physical abilities may not be quite right. The child has not magically turned into a singleton
package – that child will always be a twin for the rest of their entire life.

Well said!!

Born with a caul - is this significant?

A strange coincidence has been documented, that babies born with a caul ( the amniotic sac does not break but is delivered with the baby still contained within it)  are lucky, specially-gifted individuals.

Many belief systems hold that being born with a veil is a sign of special destiny and psychic abilities, or good luck. Through the years I have read people born with a veil. Most are female and believe themselves to be psychically gifted, while others show no advanced abilities nor interest. 

A caul or veil (Latin: Caput galeatum) is a thin, filmy membrane, the remnants of the amniotic sac, that covers or partly covers the newborn mammal immediately after birth. In childbirth it is seen as a shimmery coating of the head and face. The caul is harmless and it is easily removed by the doctor, midwife, or person(s) performing the childbirth. The appearance of a caul over a newborn baby's head is occasional; not all children have one, though they are not especially rare. A child born in this way is known as a caulbearer.

Alexander the Great was allegedly born with a caul and he certainly had an interesting and powerful life, though short lived.

Sigmund Freud, as we have seen here in the last week, was born with a caul, which convinced his mother that he would be her Golden Child.
Napolean also was born in a caul. Liberace was a womb twun survivor and was born in a caul.
 
And here another quote, from "The Social History of the Caul" by Thomas R. Forbes

 "Of the Helmets of Children newly born, or of the thin and soft caul, wherewith the face is covered as with a vizard, or covering, when they come first into the world." He quotes "old Wives . . . who do but dote, and know not what they say" to the effect that a black caul presages accidents, misfortunes, and haunting by evil spirits unless the caul "be broken and given in drink, which against my will many have done to the great hurt of the child." But if the caul is red or clings to the crown of the head, the child is expected later to achieve great success. 

Such interpretations were examples of amniomancy, the practice of foretelling the future by inspection of the caul.  If the caul were "white" (i.e., colorless) or red, it would bring good fortune; if black or lead-colored, the child would be unlucky.(57, 80, 88,) In Herzegovinia, a part of Jugoslavia, it was thought that a baby born with a black caul would grow up to become a witch or sorcerer unless, on the first night after the birth, a
woman carried the caul to the roof top and announced that "A child was born
at our house in a bloody shirt" Whether these procedures were regarded as charms or simply as attempts to prevent superstitious rumors among the neighbors is not reported.

It is suggested on this site that babies are not likely to be born  in a caul these days because of the habit of "breaking the waters" to assist labour, which means that the amniotic sac if then broken before birth.  In practices run by midwives there are more likely to be caul births and they are now advocated. Babies born in a caul  (with intact membranes) have a better time during delivery and start life with an advantage.  But is this a self fulfilling prophesy? Does Mum get excited by the sight of the caul and treat this kid differently or is there something more to this?

Many womb twin survivors ( mainly the multiples) show signs of being psychic, and they also have a great desire to reach out to others in need, to help them.  So do the caul bearers: they feel different and show signs of feeling a great sense of responsibility to help others - a sense of mission.

This was written in 2007 by a woman born in a caul. She has all the typical psychological characteristics of a womb twin survivor.

I would do anything for another not be in pain. At one point I realized that I was so familiar with pain that if it helped someone for me to take it on, then I could. Then I accepted the suggestion that pain helps someone know they are alive. It was shown to me that a woman who had a high pain threshold was unaware that she had a fracture until she could not walk some months later. Even with this information I continued to become anxious when I see suffering around me. The distress intensifies when I feel helpless to do anything about it.

Nearly 50% of the respondents to the womb twin research questionnaire gave the most positive  response to the statement:

"I have a deep desire to heal the world and everyone in it"

This sounds familiar: is it possible that babies born in a caul are womb twin survivors? I wonder....

Were YOU born in a caul? Do YOU want to heal the world and everyone in it?  Feel free to comment here or privately to me.