Aug 18, 2011


Photo: Twins Brenda and Linda, Kate and Kari, Stefanie and Kathy and John and Alex at Twins Day 2011 in Twinsburg, Ohio. Courtesy of Kathy  Bateman and Stefanie King

Identical twins Kathy (Nybom) Bateman and Stefanie (Nybom) King, who grew up near Odessa and later on Bobs Lake, have for seven years been making the trip to the world’s largest twins gathering, which has been held annually for the past 36 years in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Kathy now lives in Parham and her sister Stefanie currently resides in Ottawa. They were one of over 1000 sets of identical, fraternal, and half identical twins from the USA, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Japan, Sweden, Finland, China, Italy, and Germany, who made the trip to Ohio to take part in Twins Days 2011.

The Nyboms first attended the convention in 2000 and immediately fell in love with the event. “On our first visit we immediately felt right at home there.” Not coincidentally, the town of Twinsburg was named after a different set of identical twins, Moses and Aaron Wilcox, who in 1819 purchased 4000 acres of land there and sold it off to new settlers. They offered up a portion of it for public use if officials would agree to change the town’s original name from Millsville to Twinsburg and the town officials agreed.

The annual celebration begins each year with a wiener roast where participating twins can get acquainted and in many cases reacquainted. A regular highlight of the event is the annual “Double Take parade”, which this year had a circus theme. Participants donned colourful matching circus attire and marched through the spectator and media-lined streets. The gathering boasts numerous contests, a talent show, live entertainment, a festive food tent, and most importantly the chance for twins all over the world to share their thoughts and feelings about the special experience that is twinship.

Once there, as always, the Nyboms quickly made a bee-line to the research tent, which attracts researchers from around the US who are studying various topics. The researchers are there to take full advantage of the number of identical twins available, whose DNA offer the perfect controls for studies. Twins who participate in the studies will often receive small cash payments for their time, which can help pay for the cost of the trip.

This year the Smeal College at Penn State University was carrying on two studies, to determine to what extent brand choice is determined by genes, and if genes influence brand loyalty.

The Nyboms have participated in a number of studies, including one on breast research, another on bone density, one on skin quality, and as well, a number of taste tests. One year, researchers were offering free DNA tests to twins to find out if they are indeed identical or fraternal. The Nyboms took the test and it verified their identical status, of which they really were never in doubt.

Aside from the research tent, it is the opportunity of connecting with other sets of twins that keeps the Nyboms coming back. That and the fact that once in Twinsburg they somehow always feel like they are home. “It’s really nice to be in an environment where everyone understands you and where you are totally surrounded by people who know where you are coming from as a twin”, Kathy said. Stefanie agreed. “It’s a real Twin-Love-In where everyone just fits in and it’s a place where you are really accepted for being the same and in fact are encouraged to be - often in the bigger world that sometimes is not the case. For example, when we were young we really loved to dress alike but that was not always accepted or encouraged.”

The event has also placed the Nyboms in the limelight a number of times. One year they were interviewed in Macleans magazine and another year the Smithsonian magazine. They also participated in the filming of an episode of “Dinner Impossible”, a show that aired on the Learning Channel.

Limelight aside, I asked both Kathy and Stefanie about the pros of twinship. Kathy responded first. ”It’s the closeness. It’s like having a built-in best friend since birth and you know that no matter the issue, you have their support... If Stefanie goes away and I have to spend a week without talking to her, I feel like I’ve lost a physical part of me; it’s that strong.”

Stefanie agreed. “In some ways we say it’s like being born already married and even our own family members will sometimes roll their eyes at us and at the fact that we speak five times a day on the phone. But since meeting other twins at Twins Day over the years, that seems like nothing.”

This year the Nyboms met a set of 44-year-old male twins who share an apartment, a cell phone and work at the same job. They also spoke at length to another set of identical twins, 28-year-old Allison and Lauren Knight, who have written a book, “Mirror, Mirror: Two Bodies, One Soul” about their struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder and their desire to be one person.

Stefanie touched on the difficulty she and her sister faced as young adults, when at the age of 25, for the first time in their lives they went their separate ways. “It was hard for sure because we of course grew up together, and also lived together as students in university.”

Kathy added, “I think if everyone had a twin, someone with whom they felt totally understood and accepted, there might be less strife in the world”.

Photo: Kathy and Stefanie's first day of kindergarten in 1977. Courtesy of Kathy Bateman and Stefanie King

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