Seeing Double
NEIRAD enilno edition
They say “it takes two to make a thing go right.” It seems our society can find wisdom in that old song verse. Twins and multiples have become ever more common in this age. The number of twins born in 2007 increased five percent from the previous year.
Since 1980, there has been a 75 percent increase in the number of twins. And, in the four million or so births each year, 120,000 of them are twins or multiples.
This news comes as no surprise to Darien High School students. There is one set of triplets in 12th grade; nine sets of twins in 11th grade; six sets of twins in 10th grade and nine sets of twins in 9th grade according to a Neirad Enlino poll.
The more relevant question seems to be not how many, but what is it like being a twin? The twins interviewed for this story said they hear the frequent refrain: "Do you like being a twin?" Many people wonder what it would be like to experience the constant companionship of a similar version of you 24/7.
Fourteen-year old Maggie Close says her favorite part about being a twin is the psychic connection. "I never get bored. We have telepathic conversations in homeroom," Close says. Her twin sister, Emily, says her favorite part is confusing the parentals. It is fun to gang up on our parents 'cause we kind of work as a team. And it's fun to fight with her.”
The Close twins are indeed close. They share a lot of the same interests. Maggie says, "Half the time, people don't even believe we're twins. The other day, someone said she thought we were just best friends because we are always together."
But even though they have their good moments, there are also some aspects of being a twin they do not enjoy. Emily says her least favorite part is, "sharing friends and having to do the same things as her sister and go to the same places." Maggie says, "I don't like being labeled as a twin and not just me. Oh, I have to share my birthday, which stinks."
Another twin, Bobby Minion, says like the Close twins, he enjoys playing tricks on people. Bobby is identical to his twin brother, Ryan.
"Being an identical twin can sometimes be good because you can blame things on the other twin without getting caught," Bobby says. Ryan says he also enjoys fooling people in a way only a twin can pull off.
Many twins acknowledge their life is filled with twin-centric challenges: failure to be recognized as an individual and confusion with identical appearance for example. Other twins say the experience can be a lot of fun having a best friend to double down with through the trials and tribulations of life.
