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Missing Twins

The closeness twins are famous for, of course, begins in the womb. They may not consciously remember their early intrauterine experience, but it nevertheless lays down a deep imprint that persists throughout life. Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), whose twin sister died at birth, claimed that he felt her presence throughout his adult Olsen twins life, guiding him and maintaining a mystical contact with him. Elvis Presley's twin brother also died at birth. According to Peter O. Whitmer, clinical psychologist and author of The Inner Elvis: A Psychological Biography of Elvis Aaron Presley, the singer was affected by his missing twin to such an extent that it influenced his bond with audiences and his later dysfunctional behavior. If a missing twin can have such a profound and lifelong effect, imagine the effect of a twin who is living!

A twin's best match is usually another twin. But if twins have other siblings, especially other opposite-sex siblings, that can influence their best match. For example the twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen grew up with an older brother, Trent Olsen, who is 4 years older. Their best match would therefore be an older brother of sisters.

If you're a twin, you have something in common with Alanis Morissette. The singer/songwriter rose to fame while still in high school. Some classmates became jealous and spread rumors about her. Alanis worried about her twin brother, Wade, hearing the gossip. "God, it's funny, I immediately think not of what I had to tolerate," she says, "but what my brother had to tolerate." Like Alanis, you have a soft spot in your heart for your twin. You bring this thoughtfulness into your romantic relationships. As a result, your partners are likely to find you pleasantly considerate. (Photo: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.)

Functional birth order and adoption

If you are adopted, you have a biological and a functional birth order. Your biological birth order is the birth order you have with your birth mother. Your functional birth order is the birth order you have with the family that adopted you. For the purposes of personality development and compatibility, all that usually matters is your functional birth order. This is because the family that adopted you is what formed your personality. As an example, if you are a male and were adopted at age two months into a family with two girls, one of whom was two and the other of whom was four, you would be a functional younger brother of sisters . In fact, you would have the same birth order as Marlon Brando. All the psychological and compatibility information that pertains to the younger brother of sisters would also pertain to you.

In other words, what is important is a person's functional birth order, not their biological birth order . Here's another example: If a person is biologically a female only child but is adopted at birth into a family that already has a three-year-old son, that girl becomes a functional lastborn and her personality is that of the younger sister of brothers.


Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson

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Middle Children

Britney Spears

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Cameron Diaz and Jude Law

Do lastborns really have more fun? More…

The study of birth order can open doors that you never even saw and lead you into fields where your potential will develop more fully. More…