"The Accidental Twins" and "Peter and Erik"

The scientific congress of the International Society for Twin Studies (ISTS), held this year on September 26-28, in Assisi, Italy, is a special occasion for researchers and those who work with them. The 2024 meeting was the 19th such congress and the seventh joint meeting with the World Congress on Twin Pregnancy. The congress attracts established twin investigators from numerous disciplines in psychology, biology, and medicine. The ISTS also meets with ICOMBO, the International Council of Multiple Birth Organisations, composed of representatives of multiple birth organizations from around the globe. Most researchers dedicated to twin studies say this is their favorite professional meeting.

For the past several meetings, I have organized and chaired a session on new twin-based documentary films; my co-chairs this year were Drs. Gian Carlo Di Renzo and Ruben Quintero. It is my strong belief that many twin stories, while entertaining, are also enormously informative when it comes to understanding the psychological aspects of twinship.

This year I invited two directors to present and discuss their films. The first presentation was by Alessandro Angulo Brandestini, founder of Laberinto Films in Bogotá, Colombia. He released his film The Accidental Twins in June 2024. The second presentation was by investigative journalist Myrthe Buitenhuis of the Netherlands, whose film, Peter and Erik, directed by Jesse Bleekemolen and produced by Memphis Features, was released in April 2024.

Source: Netflix

The Accidental Twins takes viewers on a detailed tour of two identical switched-at-birth male twin pairs. One pair (Jorge and William) was born in a large, well-equipped hospital, in Bogotá, in December 1988, just one day after another pair (Wilbur and Carlos) was born in a small, poorly equipped hospital in Vélez, 100 miles away. Baby Carlos was very sick at birth, so when he was just one day old his grandmother brought him to the better facility in Bogotá—this was the same hospital where Jorge and William were being cared for. One week later, Carlos’s aunt arrived to bring him home, but she was given the wrong baby—she was handed William.

The accidental exchange was undetected for 25 years until Wilbur and William moved to Bogotá to work as butchers in a supermarket. One day, a friend of Jorge’s named Laura mistook William for Jorge. She was dumbfounded by their physical likeness. Interestingly, if Jorge had not cut his long hair several months sooner (just like William’s), the confusion might never have happened.

The discovery was traumatic, especially for Carlos and William, who were switched out of their birth families soon after birth. In minutes, their identities were erased. Moreover, Carlos understood that had he been raised near Vélez, he would not have had a high school and college education or access to the cultural opportunities he enjoyed in Bogotá. William was distressed because, while he craved education, he was only able to go to school until the fifth grade. William entered the army, which supports education for some who serve, but contracted an infection during his military service and was rejected.

The film replays the twins’ discovery and reunion and follows them into their current lives. Director Brandestini remarked on the separated twins’ psychological and personality similarities, despite their very different rearing circumstances. Jorge and William are “entrepreneurs,” outgoing, people-oriented, and eager for new experiences. Jorge is a trained engineer and has started several businesses. William went on to attend law school and was elected to the city council of his hometown. He hopes to become the future mayor. In contrast, Carlos and Wilbur are more reserved. Carlos has been an accountant for a number of years, a position that requires a modest level of personal contact. Wilbur is still a butcher at the same market he worked in when he first came to Bogotá and talks of starting his own business.

I was captivated by the film and by the story of these twins. These sets are two of 11 documented pairs of twins accidentally switched at birth and one of two cases of a double switch. The other involved female twins in Puerto Rico, and the mistake was discovered when the twins were just one and a half years old. In this case, the decision was made to return the twins to their biological families. I was able to interview the parents, who said this was a very painful process because they loved the young children they had cared for.

There are other documented cases of switched twins from Switzerland, Poland, Spain (two pairs), Canada, Kenya, and Malaysia, but I suspect there are others who may never learn the truth about their birth: Mistaken identity is the catalyst for reuniting identical twins, but because fraternal twins do not look alike, switched fraternal twins may never discover their co-twin.

Understanding Twins Essential Reads

What Twins Need to Know About Mixed Credit Reports

The Unique Development of Twin Language

The film Peter & Erik tells the story of a pair of reared-apart identical male twins in the Netherlands. As young infants, they were relinquished for adoption by a mother who wished them to be kept together, but that was not to be—the decision to separate them rested with professional staff associated with their adoption. In fact, Erik’s parents wanted to adopt both boys but were not allowed to do so. The twins had no knowledge of one another until they turned 17, when they came together through accidental circumstances. A friend of Erik’s saw Peter at a dinner and thought it was Erik. After that, the twins became focused on discovering why they had been raised apart. They were assisted in this quest by investigative journalist Myrthe Buitenhuis. At the congress, Myrthe and I discussed the twins’ separation at length and she described how she diligently investigated every available angle.

It seems likely but is unproven that the individuals responsible for the twins’ separate rearing were influenced by a 1960s psychiatric team in New York City who intentionally divided twins. The two key individuals in this team were Dr. Viola Bernard, a psychiatric consultant to Louise Wise Services, an adoption agency that placed Jewish babies with Jewish families; and Dr. Peter Neubauer, a psychiatrist who directed the well-known Child Development Center.

Twins were placed with different families who did not know they were raising a “singleton twin.” The twins were then studied periodically until they turned 12. Drs. Bernard and Neubauer achieved prominence within the psychoanalytic circles of New York City and had many overseas colleagues. They attended the same conferences, and it's possible that the Dutch physicians and adoption professionals may have been persuaded by the American team to separate Peter and Erik. That said, Peter and Erik have no recollection of being studied; however, it is possible that plans to do so were never carried out for some reason. Myrthe and the twins continue to search for the truth.

Why are these two films so important for psychologists and the public to see? They both show stunning experiments of nature and nurture. Research studies using identical twins raised in different environments are among the most powerful research designs available. In fact, identical reared-apart twins are the only people who can truly see themselves in a life they did not live. Everyone else can only imagine how their lives might have been different had they married someone else, attended another college, or been raised in another neighborhood.

The Accidental Twins, released in June 2024, is playing on Netflix. Peter and Erik, a two-part miniseries released in April 2024, is currently available on Dutch television.