Two of a kind

SBS replayed one of their Insight specials tonight - "Two of a kind" - which is about twins. My mum is an identical twin so I found the show really interesting. It's a fact that twins do tend to do things like finish each other's sentences... what's interesting is how some twins really fight against it and others try to enhance it. Most of the twins on the show were fairly 'normal', so to speak, but there was one set of twin girls who were just weird. Weird! They dress alike, sleep in the same room (they're in their 30s) and won't date unless they both date... ie, they're looking for best mates or twins. They speak in unison ALL the time. I know from my mum and aunt that the twin relationship is special ('strange' is another word for it!) but these girls took it waaaay beyond even the strangest twin relationship. It was kind of creepy.

One thing that was very revealing was when a guest psychologist mentioned an incident of when he was chatting with a 65 year old twin who said, "I love my husband and my children, but I love my twin more than anyone else in the world." The host of the program looked surprised... and even more surprised when most of the twins in the audience started nodding in agreement. One twin said, "If I were on the Titanic and could only save one person it would be my twin.... because you wouldn't leave yourself behind." This was no surprise to me - I've known for years that my aunt and mum would choose each other over their husbands. It's a twin thing and there's no explaining it rationally.