News about the healthy birth of monoamniotic (sharing the same amniotic sac) twin girls in Ohio in May went viral for a number of reasons. First, these births are rare (one in every 10,000 births) and often pose significant health risks to the unborn twins. The fetuses share a placenta and an amniotic sac but have separate umbilical cords. If unmonitored, strangulation might happen. Naturally everyone was relieved and pleased about the positive outcome. However, most people seemed to be […]
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors
I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful production of The Comedy of Errors a few weeks ago at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia. Both Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors are Shakespearean comedies in which themes about twins shape the plot, the characters, and the antics of the plays. The Comedy of Errors, one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, involves identical twin men who were separated at birth. When one twin unknowingly arrives in the town where his […]
Fertility Drugs, not IVF, Are Top Cause of Multiple Births
When I spoke in New Zealand, I learned that the country’s national health service pays for two rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), each time implanting a single embryo. A recent report by Nancy Shute for NPR reveals some fascinating findings. She writes that a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine relates that drugs such as Clomid and injectable hormones account for the largest percentage of triplets and higher-order multiples in the United States. Fertility drugs are cheaper and […]
The Aha Moment
When I go to social events and talk about my professional obsession with twins, an aha moment inevitably accompanies my explanation about my work and research: “Wow, I never thought about that. That is so interesting.” It seems that most people know a twin, know someone who has twins, or went to school with a twin. For me, the moment is gratifying and surprising at the same time. It is validating because it underscores the ongoing societal perception of idealized […]
Twin Takes
Welcome. Many of you know that the subject of being a twin is a very large part of my life. First, I am a twin; second, I am the mother of twins; third, I specialize in twin issues in my psychotherapy practice; and fourth, I am the author of two books on the subject: Emotionally Healthy Twins and The Same But Different. And there is so much to talk about. According to a January 2012 report by the National Center […]