Janet Morgan and her identical twin, Janese Samuels joined TwinsUK in 1999 and have taken part in over 15 research projects. They also fronted a campaign to encourage more diversity in those taking part in research and have told their own personal story about how coming for a twin visit may have saved their lives. Janet even designed our 21st birthday cake! But as well as being committed and involved twins with a close bond, they are also in the unique situation of having another pair of identical twins in their immediate family as well as two other siblings. Below you can read Janet’s frank account of the trials and tribulations of juggling so many relationships.
“My mother had 6 children in 5 years, including two sets of identical twins. She often joked that she wishes that she could have taken out insurance to receive a payout on multiple births (which is available now, but not at the time).
However she should have taken our family history as a warning sign; we have four other sets of identical twins on my mother’s side, despite the fact that having identical twins is not meant to be heritable!
Growing up, I was very close with my identical twin, Janese and also with our identical younger twin brothers, Brian and Selwyn. However, we drifted away from our other brother and sister. We were never close with them, and are barely in touch today; our mother paid less attention to us twins, as we ‘had each other’. She constantly worried about the non-twin siblings in the family being left out. This seemed to drive us further apart from them.
When Janese married, I felt bereft; at first I felt that someone had taken away my best friend. Likewise, Selwyn experienced loneliness when Brian married. But it brought Selwyn and I closer together – at least there was someone who could understand! Fortunately Janese and Brian’s spouses understand the importance of the relationships between us, although it did take a while for them to get used to it! Today the four of us are very much part of each other’s lives, and I live close to Janese and her family. Between texts, WhatsApp and phone calls Janese and I are in touch up to a couple of hundred times a day as there is constantly something new to share.
As time has gone by, I have had a chance to reflect on how having an identical twin sister has shaped and moulded me. There are times I wish I had not been born an identical twin. I would have liked to have experienced the feeling of being an individual and not being compared to someone; of walking down the street and not being mistaken for Janese; of people not assuming they know my preferences or dislikes. As a result, I developed a non-twin persona (more relaxed) when we are apart and a twin-persona (ultra-competitive!) for when we are together. However, despite the negatives of being a twin, I appreciate the gift of never feeling alone and always having someone who understands where I am coming from.
I also feel I have changed as I have gotten older. Janese was always more independent than me and would push away from me, and I needed her more. I feel that if I hadn’t have been a twin I would have married. However, with life experience I feel wiser and more independent now. I feel we have stopped fighting against our differences and have become accepting of our similarities. I finally feel comfortable in my own skin and at peace with being an identical twin.