UNBELIEVABLE: Twins Separated at Birth and Reunited 39 Yrs Later Lived Parallel Lives

You take it for granted that you are a totally unique person, different from everybody else on Earth. And you understand that everybody else is also unique.



On a most basic level, identical twins are fascinating because they challenge this truth. They are unique people, of course, but they're eerily like each other. Extreme case of the "Jim twins"
Identical twins Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were only four weeks old when they were separated; each infant was taken in by a different adoptive family.

At age five, Lewis learned that he had a twin, but he said that the notion never truly "soaked in" until he was 38 years old.

Springer learned of his twin sibling at age eight, but both he and his adoptive parents believed the sibling had died.

The two were finally reunited at age 39. The similarities the twins shared not only amazed one another, but researchers at the University of Minnesota as well.

The very fact that you had twin siblings separated at birth bearing the same name, both 6 feet tall and weighing exactly 180 pounds is pretty incredible.

But there's more:
As youngsters, each Jim had a dog named "Toy."

• Each Jim had been married two times -- the first wives were both called "Linda" and the second wives were both called "Betty."
• One Jim had named his son "James Allan" and the other Jim had named his son "James Alan." 
• Each twin had driven his light-blue Chevrolet to Pas Grille beach in Florida for family vacations.
• Both Jims smoked Salem cigarettes and drank Miller Lite beer. 
• Both Jims had at one time held part-time posts as sheriffs. 
• Both were fingernail biters and suffered from migraine headaches. 
• Each Jim enjoyed leaving love notes to his wife throughout the house.

Of course, before you start thinking about science fiction movies with pod people, the Jims, like other identical twins, are not carbon copies of each other.

Some obvious differences were discovered during their participation in the "Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart," including:
Each styled his hair differently; one Jim wore it combed straight, hanging down over his forehead (think Beatles circa 1961) and the other Jim wore it combed back and sported sideburns (think Johnny Cash circa 1957, but with longer 'burns).
One Jim more clearly conveyed himself through speech, while the other was better suited to writing.
While both Jims had been married twice, one Jim had taken vows with a third wife (called "Sandy")

While not all as eerily similar as the Jim twins, many more instances of uncanny likenesses can be found among twins who were raised apart.

The Minnesota Twin Study is probably the most well known twin study to date.Through this study comes information about how our environment and genes work together to influence everything from attitudes, talents and abilities, to job selection, to falling in love, to aging and health.

Research so far indicates that characteristics like personality are primarily related to genes. For more information about the study and its results, visit the Minnesota Twin Family Study website.