Twins reunited after 39 years astounded to discover they had lived eerily identical lives
A pair of twins were reunited after 39 years apart and they were astounded to find out that they had lived eerily identical lives.
The brothers were separated at birth and did not discover one another until they were 39 years old.
Identical twins Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were born in 1940 and were adopted by two separate families.
However, despite not knowing each other for the first four decades of their lives, the brothers shared eerie similarities.
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Both of them were named James by their adoptive parents and both grew up with dogs named Toy.
Both twins had a brother named Larry and had married women named Linda before remarrying to women named Betty.
In their youth, Lewis and Springer were both fond of mathematics and woodwork but neither of them liked spelling.
The pair were chain smokers who both suffered from migraines.
To make things even spookier - Lewis and Springer both had sons named James Alan.
The brothers even drove Chevrolet cars.
However, while Lewis grew up knowing he had an identical twin out there, Springer was told his twin had died at birth and it wasn’t until 1979 when the pair were reunited.
This is because Lewis was able to get hold of the contact details for Springer through an Ohio courthouse.
After the brothers met and discovered their similarities, they agreed to take part in a study about reunited twins.
The research was conducted by Dr Thomas Bouchard from the University of Minnesota where Lewis and Springer were both asked to complete a series of tests based on personality, medical history and brain waves.
Astonishingly, their scores for all three of the tests they completed were unbelievably similar to one another.
When they were each individually asked to draw out a picture, they both drew the same thing.
This left Dr Bouchard saying he felt ‘flabbergasted’ by the twins’ results.
Many people have since taken to social media to share their own reactions to the incredible similarities.
On Reddit, one user wrote: “This stuff makes me think more about how much of 'ourself' is really us, and how much is just pre-programmed without us even realizing it.
“Think of animals that come out of the egg and already know to run/hunt/hide/recognize predators. ALL of that is genetically passed information from their parents.
“How much of ‘you’ is simply more complex, genetically passed instinct?”
And another person added: “As a twin, yes, this is kind of how it works. The minds are remarkably alike in function, so the general paths taken are quite similar. Their lives can be remarkably different, but there will often be key things that are identical without shared influence.”