Accidental Brothers

by Dr. Nancy L. Segal

  During my first visit to Colombia, Carlos opened up just once about the shock of learning of the switch, but when I saw him again more than a year later, I got the complete story. What most people took for coldness was a young man trying desperately to come to terms with a life-changing event that caused him to question who he was and how he got that way. Carlos may be William’s unsettling shadow because Carlos enjoys the benefits of city life that William should have had. But Wilber is Carlos’s alter ego—his identical reared-apart twin who is a version of who Carlos could have been.

  Carlos has an uncanny ability to look back at himself with humor, revealing details that place him in silly or awkward positions. This behavior seems uncharacteristic of his generally detached demeanor, but is engaging when it appears. Several events from his past make him laugh, although they were awkward and uncomfortable at the time. Once he was sipping a Coke through a straw, picked up the bottle for some reason, tilted it, and ended up spilling the drink all over himself. As a teenager out on a date, his stomach revolted following consumption of a Cuban sandwich—a stack of ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard, and sometimes salami and garlic sauce on bread. “I said “Bye’ fast and started walking back to my house. I was in a cold sweat.” Carlos has had second thoughts about consuming another Cuban ever since. His seriousness is balanced by this lighter comical streak and his willingness to laugh at himself publicly. Both stories seem funny to him now, and while they are entertaining, they are also somewhat self-deprecating. Carlos has admitted to losses of confidence at times.

  Carlos does not have the spontaneous, adventuresome spirit that is central to the nature of Jorge and William. Visiting new places is not a high priority for Carlos, but it is for Jorge, who believes that travel opens one’s mind and increases one’s energy—he has no trouble taking credit for encouraging and helping Carlos buy plane tickets so he could finally see the sea. This is not surprising because scores of twin studies show genetic influences on openness to experience (curiosity and open-mindedness) and absorption (emotional responsiveness to sights and sounds). Genes account for about half of the differences among people in these two personality traits. Genetic effects are also responsible for about half the differences among individuals’ social attitudes, such as tough-mindedness and conservatism, and vocational interests, such as adventurous and enterprising professions.15 And genes explain between 72 and 85 percent of the differences in exercise behavior among older adolescent males.16 Thus, the differences between these accidental brothers make sense because Carlos and Jorge have no common genes—whereas Jorge and William share them all—and agree that they disagree in many ways.

  CARLOS: Jorge believes he’s always right, and he likes people to follow him. I don’t like to follow anybody. I try to get people to respect what I think.

  JORGE: Although he follows me …

  CARLOS: I don’t follow you. Jorge knows I support him in many things, but he knows there are many things I don’t like about him. That’s normal.

  JORGE: Yes, totally.

  Carlos often seems to be on the periphery of events in which he is taking part. At such times he can be analytical, coming up with insights and observations that are important and meaningful. “When my identical twin, Wilber, teases Jorge, Jorge will take it only to a certain point. But Jorge and I, we can take the teasing longer because we’ve known each other our whole lives. Similarly, William should not assume he can tease me to the same degree.” Siblings’ shared social history can be a powerful influence, as it was, and is, in Carlos and Jorge’s case. They tease and annoy each other on a daily basis, pushing each other to dangerous limits, but know they can rely on each other in times of crisis.

  Carlos’s reflective mind comes across in other ways. He showed the most interest and curiosity about what we would learn about him and his brothers, not just the physical traits that are obvious, but about their behaviors. Why, for example, was Carlos so terrified when a friend threw an insect at him, causing him to tear off all his clothes? And when they were children and a mouse disrupted their play, Carlos refused to kill the mouse because he was afraid of it. Where does fear of small nonhuman creatures come from?

  CARLOS: I said to Jorge, “You kill the mouse.”

  JORGE: No, you said, “You kill it because you’re the man of the family.”

  CARLOS: I was scared and I just said, “You kill it, you kill it.”

  JORGE: I know he remembers because we have talked about this many times.

  CARLOS: That’s the point I want to make. He always has to be right.

  JORGE: I’m 80 percent sure of what happened.

  CARLOS: OK, I’ll just say yes.

  Fears and phobias among males are partly affected by genes, on the order of 37 percent for animal fears, such as fear of snakes, bugs, spiders, and mice, although experiences are more influential. Other fears, such as agoraphobia (fear of being trapped, helpless, or embarrassed in public places) and blood/injury phobia (fear of seeing blood or needles), are partly influenced by genes. These fears are largely irrational—Carlos had never had a previous encounter with a house mouse, yet his fear of this small mammal was real. He shared this fright with someone he had never met—his identical twin brother, Wilber, who had nearly killed another soldier who had chased him with a snake. It’s strange to think that two strong, solidly built young men should be so afraid of things that might not bother others, but they are not alone. Reared-apart identical male triplets, Bob, Eddy, and Dave, met by chance when they were nineteen. Eddy had left a small college in upstate New York, but when Bob enrolled at the same school for the next semester, students wanted to know why “Eddy” had returned. This case of confusion brought the two of them together, but they became a threesome after one of Dave’s best friends saw a picture of Eddy and Bob in a newspaper. All three of these muscular, athletically built young men are terrified of needles, a fear we learned about when they visited our allergy-testing lab in Minnesota.17

  In modern times wariness of mice, snakes, and sharp objects may seem groundless, but they posed serious threats to life in early human history. Our ancestors who feared them and took precautions survived and passed their genes on to subsequent generations, whereas those who were less concerned died off. Cultural changes occur more quickly than genetic ones.

  At the end of their brotherly battle, Carlos seemed to give in to Jorge’s version of the mouse incident, but I believe something else happened. Carlos was accepting Jorge for who he is while realizing that arguing about a mouse is a useless pursuit, a recognition typical of a thoughtful, reasoning person. Carlos also thought a lot about what it would have been like to grow up with his identical twin and decided that having an unrelated brother was more to his liking. Appreciation for individuality and diversity convinced him that being raised with Wilber, who is so much like him, would have been boring. It might also have robbed him of his unique identity. This perspective is understandable, but not tenable, because many reared-apart twins had similar concerns until they met, only to learn that they were not the photocopies they had feared. Investigators are also sensitive to twins’ physical and behavioral variations—a fuller frame, a more even set of teeth, a more serious demeanor. (Only once did I confuse a sixty-two-year-old identical male triplet for another while waiting for one of the three to complete a medical appointment.) Most twins I have worked with found themselves celebrating their similarities and their differences, adding another unique layer to their sense of self—us—something only reunited twins can do. At the same time many what-if questions crowded their consciousness: What if their adoptive parents had been willing to take two children? What if the twin’s adoptive parents had chosen the other child instead? Or, in some cases, why did the biological mother keep one twin and not the other? How did she choose? The twins’ lives could have been dramatically different if their mother had made a different decision or had faced different circumstances.

  The Minnesota researchers found it gratifyin
g to see the twins’ relationships evolving so effortlessly, especially among the identical pairs. We chuckled but also loved seeing some adult twins revert to being the twin children they never were, trying to trick us by switching places. Jorge and William, and Carlos and Wilber never knew the fun of fooling their friends by pretending to be the other brother—but, ironically, all four were accidental players in a somber and stressful game of switch.

  Reflections

  No other case of doubly exchanged adult identical twins has ever been recorded in the history of twin studies. From the first moment, I absolutely believed that the Colombian twins were at the center of the most extraordinary nature-nurture saga ever told. But would the four young men agree to undergo intelligence testing, provide saliva samples for DNA analysis, and reveal their thoughts and fears to two complete strangers? Would they be willing to do this during Colombia’s Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday and ends eight days later? Holy Week—the time when Jesus entered Jerusalem and was received with palm leaves—is the most important celebration of the year for Colombia’s predominantly Catholic population; they mark it with nationwide processions and ceremonies.18 Most schools and businesses close, and many people leave town for vacations. I wondered whether the twins would forfeit their free time in exchange for what they might see as an unusual and risky venture. On the other hand, twins are generally fascinated with being twins and are eager to learn as much as possible about themselves.

  Most twins also understand the critical role they play in scientific research and enjoy contributing to new findings. Sir Francis Galton of England, credited with founding the twin method in 1875, was actually approached by twins who volunteered to take part in his research. This is unusual because most behavioral science investigators have to work hard to attract a large enough number of participants to produce statistically valid studies. But, like Galton, I find that twins offer their time unsolicited and make efforts to take part in ongoing studies. In response to a twin-family questionnaire I sent by email, one identical female twin replied, “I would love to answer any other questions. Thanks so much.” And after the airing of a television program discussing my work on reared-apart Chinese twins, a mother wrote, “My daughter, who is adopted from China, has a twin sister who was adopted at the same time to a different family. I just saw the show and many aspects resonated. Are you still doing twin research?”19

  The greater resemblance of genetically identical than fraternal twins tells us that our genetic backgrounds influence particular behavioral, physical, or medical traits. It works that way with virtually every human characteristic, from verbal fluency to running speed to cholesterol level. It’s a gorgeous natural experiment.

  Chapter 3

  Miles of Memories

  Twins Past and Present

  Bogotá, Colombia, is thirty-five hundred miles southwest of my home near Los Angeles. Its name derives from the word bacatá, meaning “planted fields” in the Chibcha culture that predated Bogotá’s founding. In 1538 the Spanish explorer Gonzalo Jiménez became the first European to arrive in the Chibcha nation, where he founded the city of Santa Fé. Santa Fé became the center of government for the territory, in the new kingdom of Granada. The city was later called Santafé de Bogotá, but after several more changes it officially became Bogotá, D.C. (Distrito Capital), in 2000.

  Some of my friends and colleagues were shocked when I said I hoped to go to Colombia. They warned, “Be careful!” or joked, “Don’t mess with drug dealers!” Notorious for armed guerilla attacks since the 1960s and for drug trafficking since the 1980s, Colombia has been synonymous with crime for many years. The crime has been concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín but has also occurred in smaller cities. After the 1993 death of Pablo Escobar, the head of Medellín’s cocaine cartel, the drug trade lost its center. Colombian drug trafficking continues, but it is focused in other Latin American countries. Every Colombian with whom I spoke while I was there emphasized how safe Bogotá had become compared to previous years, and it is. Calling Bogotá a “role model of urban reinvention,” the New York Times ranked Colombia twenty-sixth on its 2010 list of thirty-one places to visit.1

  Unfortunately, the crime in Colombia has overshadowed the stunning accomplishments of its writers, such as the Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, as well as its renowned artists, musicians, dancers, actors, scientists, and coffee growers. The sculptor and painter Fernando Botero is famous for renditions of voluptuous figures and objects, some controversial, that earned him the 2012 award from the International Sculpture Center for Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture.2 The pop singer and dancer Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, with recording sales reaching nearly US$10 million. Sofía Vergara is a well-known television and film actor, model, and producer. In the world of science Dr. Francisco Lopera is conducting stunning research on early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in an extended family from the Colombian countryside of Antioquia. And everyone knows Juan Valdez, the fictional symbol of Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers, portrayed by the national folk hero Marco Fidel Torres. Colombia is the world’s third-largest coffee producer and the biggest producer of Arabica coffee, a high-quality bean known for its intense flavor.3

  * * *

  Colombia remains a country in flux; its democratically elected government, headed by President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, reached a peace agreement in October 2016 with the guerillas—the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Just five days after voters narrowly rejected the original agreement, Colombia’s Congress modified and approved it, officially ending fifty-two years of brutal armed conflict. But terror continues in Colombia. Murders of, and attempts to murder, local community leaders occurred throughout November 2016, partly fueled by the uncertain future of the newly disarmed FARC members. And United Nations observers sent to Colombia to monitor the FARC were caught dancing with female guerillas on New Year’s Eve, provoking sharp criticism from opponents of the peace deal and questions about the impartiality of the UN observers.4 Struggles between rebel groups, such as the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the government have continued into 2017.5

  The guerillas had preyed upon William and Wilber’s family, as well as other rural families, for crops and farm animals. And Wilber had narrowly escaped capture by a guerilla unit when he was a young boy. Work on the farm continued against this backdrop of violence and terror.

  * * *

  I thought a lot about the four twins and how their reactions and feelings would compare with those of other switched-at-birth twins who have trusted me with their life stories. I also thought about some of the reared-apart twins with whom I had worked. Each pair came with distinctive features that made them memorable, making me wonder what unusual habits, quirks, or oddities would define the twins in Colombia.

  Minnesota Days: Identical Twins Reared Apart

  Sharon Poset of Nicholasville, Kentucky, and Debbie Mehlman of West Hartford, Connecticut, are petite identical blue-eyed twins who were reared apart.6 Both wore their dark blonde hair at chin length and scattered their bangs across their foreheads. They also shared the rare trick of rolling their eyes upward, leaving only the whites exposed, a skill they still love to show off because it horrifies other people. When they return their eyes to the normal position, both twins look pleased at their trick’s intended effect.

  When Debbie was forty-five, her mother summoned her for what Debbie presumed was an important discussion of family finances. Instead she received news that left her breathless: she had been adopted and she had a twin. Shocked but determined to find her sister, Debbie hired a private investigator, who located her but wisely contacted Sharon’s parents first, which allowed them to gently share this life-changing news with their daughter. Sharon had been told that she was adopted, but no one in her adoptive family knew that she had a twin. Sharon’s parents had traveled from their new home in New Jersey to Sharon’s home in Kentucky
to share this incredible news in person. Like Debbie, Sharon assumed that this sudden visit from her parents was for a talk about family finances.

  The twins met for the first time at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. They instantly fell into each other’s arms and have been the closest of twin sisters ever since—loving and teasing, compassionate and supportive—and are very much alike in their tastes and temperaments. The only noticeable difference is their weight—studies of reared-apart twins have shown that in women genes account for 37 to 49 percent of influences on weight (whereas in men genes account for as much as 87 to 91 percent), perhaps because of women’s greater sensitivity to hormonal influences, dietary changes, and/or exercise regimens.7

  What makes both twins so notable is that they are extremely devoted to their different religions—one is Jewish and one Christian—demonstrating genetic influence on religious involvement and conviction. Religious beliefs, occupational interests, favorite school subjects, leisure pursuits, and values are more alike among identical twins than fraternal twins, whether reared apart or reared together, with genetic influence accounting for about 50 percent. It makes sense that many different genes affect a complex behavior like religiosity, expressed through various personality traits.8 Some aspects of religiosity, such as the degree of influence of religion on one’s life, are associated with some genetically influenced personality traits, such as traditionalism, but the association is modest and findings vary across studies.9 However, religious affiliation, no matter the religion to which we subscribe, tends to come from our families and therefore is environmental in origin. Upon learning that her biological mother was not Jewish, identical reared-apart twin Debbie worried that she was not really of that faith because Jewish law defines Jewish children as those born to Jewish women. The solution was to undergo a formal religious conversion at her synagogue, then remarry her husband of twenty-three years. Her sister Sharon, who grew up in a Catholic home, had been growing frustrated with what she saw as the relaxation of religious rules and practices. She eventually decided to join the nondenominational Evangelical Christian Church because it promised her an appealing combination of faith, morality, grace, and forgiveness. However, both twins acknowledged that, had their adoptive homes been reversed, their shared spiritual nature would have absorbed the rituals and culture of their twin sister’s faith.10