All language subtitles for Three.Identical.Strangers.2018.

[Bobby] When I tell people
my story

they don't believe it.

I guess I wouldn't believe
the story

if someone else were telling
it, but, I'm telling it

and it's true,
every word of it.

Il started when I was born,
56 years ago,

but the real story
began when I was 19 years old

and I went to college.

[I RAINBOW:
"Since You've Been Gone]

[Bobby] It was 1980.
ll was the firs! day 01 school

at Sullivan County Community
College up in the Catskills,

about 110 miles
from where I grew up.

So, I drove up there alone.

I I gel the same old dreams

I Same time every night

I Fall (o the ground
and I wake up...

I used to have this really
old car. ll was a Volvo.

And it was
a 1970 Volvo.

Had like 130,000 miles on it.

And the car was burgundy
and the hood was green.

Actually, (he car was called
the Old Bitch.

I Since you been gone

I Since you been gone

I I'm out of my head... J“

But the Old Bitch got me there.

Sullivan was
a community college.

This wasn't some longstanding
institution of higher learning.

All these station wagons
are dropping kids off.

I was nervous,
I'd just gotten to the school,

I didn't know anybody.
I was a freshman.

I was never the captain of the
football team in high school,

so I was never really
like popular.

So, I'm walking around
trying to find where my dorm is.

Meanwhile all these people
are coming up to me

saying "Hi, how are you?"

"How was your summer?"

"Mine was great.
How was yours?" "Super."

Why are they asking me
how my summer was? I don! know.

Everybodfs being
extremely friendly to me

and they're going
out of their way to do it.

I don't mean just a 'hi',

I mean, claps on the hack
and high fives.

And I was a little hit
bewildered by this

because no one gets
this kind of a welcome

on their firs! day at school.

And girls were kissing me,

like fully kissing me saying,
"I'm so glad you came hack."

And I was saying 'thank you'
and 'hello' back

but I had never been (here
before and I didn't know them.

L! was bizarre.

And the next thing I heard
from right behind me.

'Welcome back. Eddy!"

"Eddy! How are you'!
Eddy, hi!"

I'm like, "My name's not Eddy.
I don't know

'what you're talking about.
I just got up here."

"Sure, Eddy,
you're really funny,

'you're really funny,
real funny."

I'm like, "I'm not Eddy.
I don't know who Eddy is."

'Welcome hack, Eddy",
they were all saying.

I finally made it
to this dump of a dorm room.

Before a minute had gone by...

[Knock on door]

..."Who now? Who now
is gonna come to find Eddy?"

I had been at college

the previous year
with Eddy, and I knew

that he wasn't
coming back to school.

[Knock on door]

As soon as this guy
turned around, I...

I was, I was actually shaking.

I was... I know all color
from my face dropped

cos I knew it was his double.

He had the same grin, the same
hair, the same expressions.

It was his double.

And I see this guy's face
and he's like...

...just standing there.

The first thing out of my mouth
was 'Were you adopted?"

Er... and I was like, "Yes."

lsaid, "ls your birthday
July 12th?" He. said yes.

I was like, "July 12th 1961."

"Oh my God", I said,
"You're no! gonna believe this."

I said, "You have a twin
brother. You have a twin."

"Oh my God."

I said. "Come with me."

And the two of us are crammed
into (h is phone booth.

Shoulder to shoulder
and you know, we had to like,

close the door
of the phone booth.

And I'm trying
to put the coins in

and they keep falling
on the floor

and Bobby's picking up
(he coins.

And he calls this guy
and he's like,

"Hey, Eddy, you're not
gonna believe this,

"you're not gonna believe this.

"Eddy, Eddy, you are not
gonna believe this."

This guy's more hysterical
than I am like weirded out.

"Eddy, you are not
gonna believe this."

So I was like,
"Give me the phone."

So I'm like, "Hi, Eddy?"
"Yes."

But it was my voice
that said, "Yes."

And I said, "Hi, Eddy,
my name is Robert Shafran

"and, er... I'm meeting
all these people

"who say I'm you."

And he said, “Uh-huh, yeah,
I've been getting some calls."

I said, "Were you adopted?"
and he said, "Yes."

And I said,
"When was your birthday?"

"July 12th."

And I said, "Do you know what
the name of the agency was?"

And he said, "No, hold on."

And I heard him go like, "Mom?"

And he came hack and he said,
"Louise Wise Services."

Sometimes when you
are just having a dream,

you know this can'! be real,
this can't be real.

But you know (here's nothing
you can do to slop it,

start it, change it,
you just go with it

and that's
what I was doing.

I just wanted to see
what was gonna happen next.

Nu'. I'm “he, “his go.
Let's gamed Eddy!'

[I Rock music]

So we gm into the Old Bitch.

[Revs engine]

It was about
9 o'clock a! night

and it's about a two-hour ride.

And we were speeding
on route 17.

We were going 100 miles
per hour, perhaps more.

We were speeding.

We're driving as fast
as (his car would go.

Il was shaking.

And we go! pulled over
by a New York Stale trooper.

[Sirens wailing]

And as I roll down my window
(here's this gigantic cop

with like the sunglasses
even though it's night time.

In the big hat.

He said, "You know,
lclocked you at BB in a 50.

"Son, you better have
a really good reason."

And I was like,

"Well, Officer, you're never
gonna believe this."

The two of us are like
yelling at this guy.

"You, you don't know,

'this guy, this guy
has a Min brother,

"he was adopted and we're going
to Long Island to go see..."

And, and, and the guy was,
"Yeah, right." You know.

"Here's, here's your ticket
have a good day."

And onto Long Island
we went.

[Bobby] So, we go! there.

But it's like,
the middle of the night.

And ifs this really
quiet neighborhood.

So, we get out of the car.

And walk up this little path
to the house.

And the lights were on
in the house.

And I reached out
to knock on the door

and as I reached out
to knock on the door it opens.

And there I am.

His eyes were my eyes
and my eyes were his eyes

and it's true.

[Michael] They looked
exactly alike.

They're duplicates
o! each other.

There was no doubt in my mind
that (hey were twins.

He's going, "Oh my God."
I'm going, "Oh my God."

He's going, "Holy crap."
I'm going, "Holy crap."

They just looked at each other
and they moved...

Every time Bobby moved
his head, Eddy moved

and then Eddy would move
and then Bobby would move,

like, like they were
looking at a mirror.

L! was the weirdest thing.

Il was like the world
faded away,

and it was just me
and Eddy.

So, I'm in the newsroom,
it's the middle of a busy day,

we got a call {rum somebody

who says they have an
amazing story to tell us,

we are not gonna
believe this story,

and my first reaction,
"Ah, it's a hoax."

So, Hold our reporter,
"I wanna rem a plane."

In those days we had
enough money to do this.

"I wanna rent a plane, I wanna
see these two kids face to lace

"or I don't believe this."

We flew lhejoumalist up
to Sullivan Community College

and he called me and he said,
"Howie, it's true, it's true.

And I remember saying, "Oh my
God, this is a great story.

"This is a memorable
heart-warming story."

And then the story went from
being amazing to incredible, OK,

from amazing to incredible.

[Ellen] I was
on the New York Subway.

Quite late at night.

Read an article about two boys
who found each other.

That were twins
separated at birth

and found each other

alSullivan County
Community College.

There was no picture.
but the story was fascinating.

I came home,
and went to sleep.

My mother came into the room

and said, "Wake up, wake up,
I have to show you something."

And she shows me a newspaper

with a picture of two boys

and I had to like, focus
and I looked a! the photograph

and I said, "Is that David?"

And she's like, "No,
but look at (he hands.“

And I was like, "Holy mackerel.
This is beyond amazing."

It was a picture
in the newspaper of two guys,

in (he "Post" and
I picked up the picture

and I looked at it,

and I was like in shock,

cos the two guys in the "Post"
looked exactly, exactly

like, like my friend David.
I shred a! it.

And it wasn't even just
the look on their face.

It was the way that they
were holding their hands.

They have these big meaty hands.
And David always had this,

these hands
that looked like baseball mitts.

And when I saw their hands,
I just knew that this is David.

[David] It was just
a normal day.

I got to school,
ran into my buddy Alan.

He said, "David,
take a look a! this.“

And he's got a copy
of the "New York Post“.

And, er...
he opens it up

and says,
"Look a! this.

"Look, look familiar?"
Something to that efiecl.

And I said, "Yeah, right. Sure."

But then we looked at it
a little bit more closely.

It was an article, it said,

"Twins reunited
after more than 19 years."

And it had a picture of two
of what looked like me.

L! all started to sink in.

"Holy shit, oh my God.

"Do you? This is un...
this is not believable,

"this is, this is unbelievable.
Wow!

"This is big,
this is serious,

"this is just not some kind
of crazy coincidence.

"This is not
a minor resemblance.

'This is real,
this is happening,

"this is really,
really serious."

I ditched classes
and got home.

My mother was waiting
at the kitchen table

with a cup of coffee.

And I said, "Mom, you see this?"

She said, "You see this?" And
we kinda exchanged newspapers.

Il had, "...bom Long Island
Jewish Hospital."

"July 12th, 1961."

And it was Louise Wise
adoption agency.

Imean, I always knew growing
up that I was adopted,

My parents were always
open about it.

Bu! it said Eddy Galland
of New Hyde Park, Long Island,

Robert Shafran
of Scarsdale, New York.

I remember it said,

"Son oi prominent Scarsdale
physician Mort Shaimn"

and, er... my first thought,
I said,

"He's got the wealthy family.

"That 805's probably driving
a Benz! He go! a donor!"

[Alan] And I remember being
with David in (he kitchen.

We were like, really nervous.

I mean we were, you know,
jumping around, it was...

You know, we were 19 years old.
I mean this was surreal.

And David picked up the phone
and he called Information,

and he reached Eddy's mom.

And I said, "Hi, is Eddy home?"

She says, "No,
who's calling, please?"

And I thought, 'OK,

“now I've gotta go into
this whole thing on the phone."

lsaid, "Well, my name
is David Kellman,

"and I was born July 12th 1961

"and I'm looking
a! a newspaper

"and, er... basically I think
I'm looking at two of me.

"I think I might be the third."

And I think she dropped
the phone, actually.

And I remember hearing
her voice over the phone,

"Oh my God, they're coming out
of the woodwork!"

[Hedy] It was a miracle.

The first time
that the boys met together,

the three together
was at my house.

And the three of them ended up

like puppies wrestling
on the floor.

Il was the most
incredible...

it was the most
incredible thing.

They belonged to each other.

They knew each other. There
was no formal introduction.

I mean, when you meet somebody
for the first time

you don't end up rolling around
on the floor with them.

It was truly
no! fully believable.

Even though it was happening
it was still surreal.

You think you're dreaming.

You're looking and
you're still "Oh my God."

You look at the other one,
"Oh my God."

And then you realize
that they're looking at you

or everybody else
is looking at you loo.

To have all three of (hem
in the house at onetime...

[Gasps]

It... it was
really madness.

My emotions were shock,
shock and more shock.

I mean,
I can'! explain it,

I haven't got
the terminology.

One of our reporters came
running over to me and said

'You're not gonna believe (his,

"you are not gonna believe
the call we just got.

"You know the two kids
on the front page today?

"Well, there's a third."

They even moved (he same way.

All of us just sat back

and watched three separate
lives becoming one.

The way I put it was

I looked more like Eddy
than I did David,

and more like David
than I did Eddy,

and more like either of them
than they did like each other.

Does that make sense?

And then we started
comparing notes.

What do 19-year-olds compare?

Booze, cigarettes, food,
women, music, cars.

I had just broughta brand new
Mercury Capri, which I loved.

And Bobby had this,
Maroon beat up old Volvo

with cracked leather seats
and I'm thinking,

"Hmm, son of a prominent
Scarsdale physician, huh?"

[Schneider] I think
it was Eddy who said

right at the beginning,

"I don't know if this will turn
out to be great or terrible."

So, there was always a question
mark, a big question mark,

about where the story
eventually was going.

We didn't realize
from (hen on

just how much
things were going to change.

'Now one of the most remarkable
stories I've seen in sometime:

'a story about triplets.

'Eddy and Robert and David
reunited after 19 years.'

'We have a story about triplets
that gives new meaning

'to the phrase
long lost brothers.'

We went on everything.
Everything.

'You're not seeing double

'you are perhaps in a moment
going to be seeing triple.'

'I don't know who's who here.

'Come on out here, gentlemen,
come on out.'

You just had to stop
what you're doing

and watch (hem
on every different show.

[Schneider] It became a circus,
it became a media circus.

Talk about viral, I mean this
was... it was viral even then.

'You guys have been on the
front page of every newspaper

- 'in the world.'
- [Triplets] True.'

"People Magazine",
'Time Magazine",

even the "New York Times",
"Good Housekeeping".

'David, let's begin with you.

'Which one': David,
I keep forgetting?'

- 'You're Edward?'
- 'Right!

'OK, who are you,
are you David?'

- 'I'm Bobby.'
- 'Oh, you're... I'm sorry.

'You're Robert, all right.
Robert and Edward.'

- [Audience laughing]
- 'Come on.'

ll was a fairy tale story.

And people need to hear
wonderful things.

'These three young men,

'they're all seated
in the same position.'

[Audience laughing]

It was kind of amazing.
They really were strangers.

They looked identical
to each other

but they were strangers, right?

You know, they really
didn't know one another.

But their behaviors
were so similar.

'Our lives are parallel
toa phenomenal degree.

'It's, it's ridiculous.'

'We're all the same,

'as soon as we started
discussing our personalities.'

'Personalities are the same,
our gestures are the same.'

'We always talk
a! the same time.'

'I'll start a sentence
and he'll finish it.'

[Eddy] 'We all like
Chinese load.'

[Brokaw] 'You were all
wrestlers at one time?'

[Triplets] 'Yes.'

'You all smoke the same brand
of cigarettes?'

[Triplets] 'Yes.'

[Donahue] 'What kind
of cigarettes do you smoke?'

'Marlboro!

'Do you all smoke
the same brand?'

[Triplets] 'Yes.'

- 'Do you like the same colors?'
- [Triplets] Wes.'

'Yeah, I was curious,
how's their taste in women,

- 'is it similar?'
- [Triplets] 'Yes. Definitely.'

[Audience laughing]

Il seems they all liked
older women.

'Somebody said
you all liked older women.'

[Triplets] 'Well...'

[Newsreader] 'Another
astonishing coincidence

'is that each of the brothers
grew up with an adoptive sister,

'all the girls
now 21 years old.'

[Camera shutter clicks]

'I can't get over it,
I (ell you.'

'An extraordinary string
o! coincidences

'you all have to agree,
right?'

'It's beautiful.'

[Interviewer] 'You say
you love each other,

'but you're only known each
other for such a short time.'

'Doesn't matter, I've known
them my whole life.'

'How long did it take for you
to have that feeling?'

- 'Like that.'
- [Triplets snap fingers]

[Schneider] They were
more like clones

than they were like brothers.

It was just absolutely
astounding because they grew up

it would appear to be
pretty different households.

We'd been adopted
by a blue-collar family,

a middle-class family
and a more affluent family.

Bobby's parents, Bobby's father
was a medical doctor.

And his mother was an attorney.

So they were very well educated
and they were living

in one of the most prestigious
areas of the country.

Eddy's father was a teacher,
he had a college education.

And they lived
in what would be considered

a middle-class neighborhood.

My family on paper
were the least educated,

they were immigrants, English
was a second language to them,

they had a little store,

they were the more
blue-collar family.

Hmm, but my father was just

this incredibly generous
warm guy.

David's father, Richard was,
uh... was larger than life.

If you could imagine this guy
was a big guy,

with a big cigar always
hanging out of his mouth.

We referred to him
as 'bubalai

[Ellen] He was Buhala.

If you know Yiddish,
'bubala' it's like love,

it's hugging and it's kissing.

[Bobby] We spent more time
a! David's house

than any place else.

Bubala celebrated us
like no other person.

He said, "I have two more sons."

When the boys found each other

it just sort
of happened

(hen and there.

Here is this
wonderful story

and that's it.

Nobody questioned
what was going on

except the parents of course.

When the families met up
(he first time

there was great anger
in all a! them

about the tact that the parents
had never been told

that there were
two other children.

[Elliott] They didn't tell us
a word when we were adopting.

We knew nothing
about the other two

until, er... the boys met
at, at school,

that was 20 years later.

[Hedy] The first thing
that hit me was what they lost.

I believe they were six months
old when they were separated.

If you imagine those three
little bodies lying together

and suddenlythe coldness
of being alone in a crib.

It's a terrible deprivation.

I remember being (old
by my mother

when I was a baby that I would
slam my head against the wall,

I would basically
knock myself out.

My mother said
that I would bang my head

on the inside of the crib...

...and I would hold my breath
until I passed out.

I believe it was absolutely
separation anxiety

All of us had been adopted
from Louise Wise Services.

[Reporter]
'Louise Wise Services,

'the New York institution
founded back in 1915

'overseen by a board
of directors

'drawn from New York City's

'social, financial
and political elite.'

They were the pre-eminent
adoption agency

on the East Coast
for Jewish babies in particular.

That was the place to go.

What we have felt

at Louise Wise
Services

where I have
been active

for a great
longtime,

is that adoptive parents
should be told

as much about the background
of a child as is reasonable.

Our parents they, they, they
wanted answers, they were angry.

And they arranged a meeting
and they... the six of them

went in to Louise Wise Agency
to try to get some answers

in terms of piecing together
what happened.

[Thunder clapping]

[Alice] There was a meeting with
the top brass at the agency.

And they were asked,

"Is it true that you separated
these boys at birth?"

And they said, 'Yes, we did."

Why?

How could you not tell us?

What did you do?

Why and how could you?

[Alice] They said the reason was

because it was hard to place
three children in one home.

The parents had been told that

it was in our best interests
that we'd been split up.

That not every parent
would welcome triplets,

and that triplets would be
difficult to place.

Which... I think at that moment
my father blew his shack.

And just said,
"We wouldWe taken all three.

'There's no question."
And he was furious.

[Sighs] Well, the meeting
came to an end.

[Thunder clapping]

[Bobby] They all left.

They felt like
they had gotten nothing.

And my father realized that he
had left his umbrella in there.

And he went back
to gel the umbrella.

And he walked inlo the room

to see them breaking open
a bottle of champagne...

and toasting each other
as if they had dodged a bullet.

They looked like they'd
just missed getting hurl

or killed or what have you.

It was a, er...
that was memorable.

[David] All of our parents came
away from that meeting angry.

The parents went to some pretty
prestigious New York law firms

and initially they were met
with a lot of enthusiasm,

and, er... invariably within
a shun period oiiime

were told, er...
there's a conflict

and they could not
take the case.

The'; said, "We have
a number of associates

'who are trying to adopt
through Louise Wise,

"and we don't wanna ruin
their chances."

So, that lawsuit was out.

[David] We were too happy
being together to be that angry.

We didn't understand it and to
a degree we almost didn't care.

Our heads were in the clouds,

we knew our parents
were pissed off

but it was almost like, "Well,
that's our parents' thing to do"

while we were out partying.

[I KIM WILDE: "Kids In America"]

I' Friday night
and everyone's moving...

[Bobby] This was New York
in 1880.

Drugs were different,
people were different,

sex was different,
music was different.

Phew! We just, we just wok
advantage of all those things.

Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll.

I We're the kids in America,
whoa... J?

They were running amok
in New York, I'll say.

Studio 54 was cooking.
Limelight. Copacabana.

They were hitting them all.

[David] New York loved us.
New York lowed us.

All the newspapers
were following the boys around

no matter where we went.

I remember one morning
walking in

and my mother throwing
the "New York Post" at me,

at the kitchen table saying,
"I gotta look a! the paper

"to find out where you were
last night?"

The boys thought
they were gonna be stars,

and actually they did star
in one movie.

Walking down the street,
all of a sudden we hear,

"Guys, guys, you're the guys!

"Could you please be
in our movie?

"Please be in my movie."

We didn't know who she was,
and she was, she was Madonna.

The stood on the side
and ogled her.

Pretty soon we got
an apartment together,

the triplets apartment.

[Ellen] The triplefs apartment.

Hmm, ifs like if you had
the most bachelor apartment

times three.

The liquor store
used to deliver the liquor,

At one point
Eddy had appendicitis.

He had no insurance.

And so he checked
into the hospital as Bobby.

And had his appendix taken out.
As Bobby.

I hope to this day Bobby's
appendix stays pretty healthy.

Between working together,
playing together,

going out together,
going on dams together,

living together,

from the time we me! till...
well (ill later

there was nothing, nothing
that could keep us apart.

[Ilene] I feel like I was
the firs! serious girlfriend.

Initially I couldn't really
tell them apart

and I would bump into them

and I waswtquite sure

which one I was
going outwith, so...

Bob has this very raw, natural,
type of intelligence

that I think
I was attracted too.

I always thought David
was the best, right,

of the three of them.

L, I've said it
before, you know,

"I got the pick of the litter."

Without a douM, Eddy
wasthe, er... handsomest

of all the three
triplets, you know.

Of course, I'm partial

but, you know,
I adored him.

When I met him,
he was the last holdout.

The Casanova of the three
and, er... I said,

"Oh boy, this guy's
a real bachelor, like player."

But he was so warm
in his smile

and he had wonderful
beautiful hands, soft hands

and when I shook his hand
I mean, I just, l...

You know, I just
loll in love with him.

I'm from a big colorful
Irish catholic family

and he was a Jewish guy.

When he came (u the house
for the first time,

he looked at my dad
and he said,

"I don't know if you know this,
Mr Shanley,

"I've been seeing Brenda
every night pretty much

"since the first day I met her."

And I thought, "Oh my God,

"my dad knows that, you know,
we're together every night."

And my dad just son of, you
know, looked at me like, "OK"

and that was Eddy.

-'I do.'
-'l do.'

[Clapping]

'We love you.'

[Brenda] Everyone loved him.

If there was a scale,
Bobby would be reserved,

David would be middle

and Eddy was just
the loveable, mushy,

huggahle, funny,

you know, he just exuded
warmth and love.

[Miming baby laughter]

[Mrs Shanley] 'Jamie's first
Thanksgiving with Daddy.'

- 'Hi, look who's here.'
- 'Yes, Daddy.'

'Daddy decided to show up

'and make a special
guest appearance.'

I 'Happy birthday, dear Jamie

J"Happy birthday to you?

[Brenda] He loved
family gatherings.

[Cheering]

[Alan] You know, Eddy
really, really loved

being around David
and Bobby.

Eddy seemed to gel the most out
of the three of them meeting.

For whatever reason.

[Brenda] He wanted his brothers
and him to have a beautiful life

and everyone to gel along

and he wanted everyone
to he one big family.

Eddy was absolutely
the driving force

in terms of leading the search
for our birth mother.

He got a fever
and he just wanted to do it.

And Alan was also rallying,

because it was just
an exciting (hing to do.

We figured what are the chances

of having triplets
born in New York

on July 12th 1961.

We figured out
that New York public library

shaved birth records.

We each grabbed a book

and um! page by page
W W3“! W?!“ “W,

and within a couple of hours,
it was, "Bingo!"

Male, male, male.
Three in a row.

All horn July 12th 1961.

[David] Right next lo it,
birth mother's last name.

The first meeting was a bar
on like, 47th Street.

It was like, her local
neighborhood watering hole

on the East side,
and I! was awkward.

She told the story
of what happened.

Unfortunately it wasn't
a romantic story.

She was a young girl.

Basically, prom night
knock up type thing.

[Alan] I don't think
she ever go! over the fact

that she had triplets
and had to give them up.

You know, to us at 19,

you drink like a fish,
you think you're invincible.

But we found it
a little concerning

that she was pretty much
keeping up with us, you know.

Er... the apple doesn't fall
that far from the tree

and it that's the tree,
I was less than thrilled,

and we had our parents already,
so we met her and I! was OK.

But she was not a particularly
close pan of our lives.

We were all young and starting
our marriages and careers.

'Hi, welcome to Triplets.'

[Newsreader] 'David Kellman,
Eddy Galland and Robert Shafran

'are identical triplets.

'Now they run a New York
restaurant called,

'what else, you guessed,
Triplets,'

[Journalist] 'Welcome. Hello.
Welcome, welcome.'

[David] We had a lot of people
who were coming for us.

They came to see the triplets.

They wanted to be waited
on by one of the triplets.

We sewed vodka frozen
blocks of ice,

and we'd get the whole roam
up and dancing.

It was like this
big party going on,

it was like this big
Bar Millvah.

'Triplets become
wildly successful

'owning a restaurant

'in the Soho district
of New York City.'

We did over
a million dollars firs! year.

That's when things
kinda got funky.

[Wright] In the mid-90s
I started working on a story

for "The New Yorker" magazine

about identical twins
reared apart.

I've always thought,

"What would it be like
if you turned

"the corner one day
and you saw yourself?"

In the process of my research,

I came across (his obscure
scientific article.

Il referenced this secret study

in which identical siblings
had been separated.

I was shocked and intrigued.

They were separating
identical babies a! birth

for the purpose
of this scientific experiment.

And these babies had all come

from one adoption agency
in New York City.

[Michael] 'The first thing
out of my mouth

'was, "Were you adopted?'

[Bobby] There I am,
this can'! he real.'

[Ellen] 'Twins separated
a! birth.'

[Brokaw] 'Eddy and Robert and
David reunited after 19 years.'

'It's beautiful.'

[David] 'Blue-collar family,
middle-class family

'and a more affluenl family.'

'Adoptive parents should be (old
as much as is reasonable.'

[David] 'Something
was just no! right.'

[Alice] 'They were breaking
open a bottle of champagne

'as if they had
dodged a bullet.'

[David] 'All of us were adopted
from Louise Mse.'

[Reporter] 'Louise Wise.'

'And these babies had all come
from Louise 'Wise Services.'

Lawrence Wright called me

and he told me
all about the experiment.

And I said, "This is
like Nazi shit."

ll was kind of like reality
hitting like a tidal wave.

We were a science experiment.

These people split us up
and studied us like lab rats.

We didn't recognize this stuff
until it was put in our face.

Until it was in newsprint.

But there were clues
in the past,

I remember
from a very young age...

mpeople would come
to the house...

"usually a young man
and a young woman.

And they had me taking tests.

They did IO tests,
personality inventory tests,

they did eye hand
co-ordination tests.

I do remember people coming
to the house, having tests done,

square pegs and round holes,
and Rorschach ink block tests.

"What does (his mean to you?"
that kind of stuff.

Eddy told me
that when he was younger,

he remembers people
watching him and taking notes,

and they would ask him questions

and he would get frustrated
with (he questions.

And he remembers
they were videotaping him.

I remember the filming
more than anything else.

I remember having
superflmm films taken of me

when I was on the swing set,
or on the slide.

Every single time they came
they filmed.

Riding my bike,
throwing a ball,

and they wanted to see
how many times I could,

you know, go on my pogo stick,
roller-skating,

throwing a Frisbee,
shooting a how and arrow,

you know,
they had my attention.

I was performing.

The stuff they did would be
more complex as I got older.

Hell weird about it,
I didn't really understand

why they needed
to some so often,

why were they asking me
all these questions.

Somewhere around age
of nine or ten

I started becoming
less comfortable with it,

and it was kinda like, "Mom,
do I still have to do this?

"Do I still have to do this?"

When our parents adopted us

they were each (old
that we were being followed

as pan of a normal study

of the development
of adopted children,

They had no idea
that we'd been separated.

The agency said the children
born in this period of time

were all gonna be in a normal
study of adopted children.

And, as far as we knew,
(hat was it.

Thai this was a new thing
they were going to follow up

with all the children
and at the time we accepted it.

[David] You're talking
about a group of people

that went and held a baby

and did psychological testing
on a six-month-old baby,

and then went to another house
to see his brother,

and then went to another house
to see his brother,

and did this over years
and years and years and years

with full knowledge

that we were within
a 100-mile radius.

And not knowing each other.

It's just unconscionable.

Who would think that anybody
would he evil enough

to come up
with something like this?

In the process of my research,

I learned is that the person
really in charge o! (he study

was Dr Peter Neubauer,

very distinguished psychiatrist
in New York,

director of the Freud archives.

He was an Austrian refugee
from the Holocaust

and he set up shop in New York
and became, you know,

one of the great men
of psychiatry in America.

What I learned is that people
at the Louise Wise agency

were separating
identical siblings

and then a beam o! scientists
led by Neuhauer

would follow them.

But it wasn't just the triplets.

There were others.

After my article came out

another twin set
discovered themselves.

'And here they are now.

'I appreciate you coming
on the show today.'

- 'Our pleasure.'
- 'Paula and Elyse.'

[Audience applauds]

'The story is incredible.
Is that the way to tell it?'

'It's funny. I mean, we say
I! I! hadn't happened to us

- 'we wouldn't believe it.'
- 'This is a Disney movie.'

'It's a little darker
than a Disney movie.

'I was at home
in my apartment in Brooklyn

'with my two-year-old daughter,

'and the phone rings
and I answer the phone

'and it was the adoption agency.

“We've got some news for you,
you've go! a twin sister.

"And she's looking for you!"

'You were both editors
of your high school paper,

'you both went to film school.'

'Well, it's funny because I
don't know if you noticed...'

'Our mannerisms are inherited.'

'I contacted the adoption agency

'and I asked them, "Well,
why we were separated?“

'That's the million-dollar
question of this story.'

'And they said,
"For a twin study."

'We felt that our lives
had been orchestrated

'by these scientific
researchers

'who put their
scientific needs,

'research needs or desires,
their career interests

'before the needs of us,
and the interests of us

'and other twins and triplets
who were separated.'

[Wright] Nobody is sure
of how many identical twins

were involved in this study.

I was told six to eight,
but we don't really know.

When you have
a study like this,

normally you produce
the results

and you show how large
(he sample is

and all this son of thing.

But this study
was never published,

Which makes it all
the more intriguing.

[David] We did have an attorney

try to get us
some of the study records.

We received a small amount
of information.

Il was very dry,
technical data,

that didn't really shed
any light

on the reasons for the study.
It was garbage.

I don't know
what the results were,

or if there ever were results
because I never saw them.

[Wright] They're trying
to conceal what they did

from the people
they did it to.

Why?

[Aline] I mean, what was
the purpose of it?

The study was never
published. Why?

My name is
Natasha Josefowilz...

...and I was PelerNeubaueFs
research assistant.

So, come on in.
Would you like a cup of coffee?

Here are some of my buddies.

Michelle Obama and I.
She is very tall.

I'm like a little shrimp
next to her,

I come up to her right here.

This is Obama three years ago,

and here he is holding
my latest hook.

I have lo bell you.
lsaid, "Barack, I love you."

He said, "I love you too", and
he gave me a kiss on this cheek.

Yeah. This is Robert Redford
and Al Gore.

And this is Errol Flynn and me
when I was 18.

I thought he was a hoot.

Picasso's.

When are we gonna talk
about the twin study?

[Clears throat]

You need to know
lam no! part of the team,

lam a peripheral person.
I just do the hearsay.

The first time I heard
about the twin study,

it was still just a dream
in Peter's head.

[Interviewer] What was he like'!

Hmm... sexy,
nice looking, interesting.

His background
was very Freudian.

Anna Freud,
Freud's daughter,

would often some
and visit with him.

He was very focused on wanting
to make a diflerence

in children's lives.

Peter started thinking,
wouldn't I! be interesting

to have a study of mothers

who wanted to give up
their children.

Who happen
to be identical twins

and then could he
separated at birth?

If we could put (hem in two
totally different environments,

we would put to rest
the dilemma,

nature or nurture,
forever.

Now you may think,
"Oh, (his is terrible, you know,

"how could you do this?"

You have lo put yourself back
in the late 50s and 60s.

This was not something
that seemed to be bad.

Nobody said, "To take children
apart, how terrible."

That was not at all
in anyone's thoughts.

This was a very exciting time.

Psychology was just beginning
to be the big deal

that everybody
was talking about.

This was all in terms
of research. An opportunity.

One of the great questions
that science has ever asked

is "How do we become
(he people we are,

"how much of nature
versus how much of nurture

"shapes us into the people
that we become?“

[Josefowitz] I did not go
and do the research.

But I would hear about it
because I was in the office.

What they found out,
was incredible.

'Our lives are parallel
toa phenomenal degree.

'It's, it's ridiculous.'

'We're all the same,

'as soon as we started
discussing our personalities.'

'Personalities are the same,
our gestures are the same.'

'We always talk
a! the same time.'

'You were raised
in different homes?'

[Triplets] True.'

I did not believe that it'd be
as much hereditary as it was,

that was more
than any of us thought.

'I'll start a sentence
and he'll finish it.'

[Eddy] 'We all like
Chinese load.'

'You were all wrestlers
at one time?'

[Triplets] 'Yes.'

- 'You all smoke cigarettes?'
- [Triplets] Wes.'

'Do you all smoke
the same brand?'

[Triplets] 'Yes.'

- 'Do you like the same colors?'
- [Triplets] Wes.'

'How's their taste in women,
is it similar?'

[Triplets] 'Yes. Definitely.'

[Audience laughing]

We are moved l0 behaviors

that we are totally
unconscious about.

'You were hath editors
of your high school paper,

'you both went to film school.'

'I don't know ii you noticed...'

'Our mannerisms are inherited.'

It's disturbing,
we don't like that.

People don't like to hear,
they say, "I have free will."

We would prefer that we have
some influence over our lives.

Wouldn't you rather know that'?

Thai you have
some control over this

and so finding out, never mind,
doesn't matter what you do.

So, I think
it's upsetting to people

to see how little influence
they have,

how little control they have.

We don't like that,
we fight that.

If the conclusions of the study
were so shocking

and so earth-shaking,

why haven't you published
your study?

There is a lot
that we don't know.

We have anecdotes
that are very provocative,

but we don't know,
we don't have the data.

[Josefowitz] I don'! know
what happened to the sludy.

I moved to Switzerland
in 1965

and lost touch
with what was going on.

All that research
should be seen.

This study was the first,
and it's also the last,

it will never be done again,
il will never be replicated.

It's monumental,
it's a monumental study.

In terms of the motivation
that they used

c» justify what they did,

I don't even care
because, I...

It's natjustifiahle
what they did.

[Hedy] You know what?

Coming from the Holocaust,

our family
has a knowledge

that when you play
with humans...

...you do something very wrong.

And I really believe that
because of this research,

these three boys
did no! have happy endings.

'What were some
of the similarities

'you found that you had
as you were all growing up

'in your own respective
households?'

'We all smoked the same
cigarettes when we met,

'we all wrestled
in high school and junior high,

'we all loved
the same food, er...

'our taste in women
was similar.'

'What are some
of the stranger things

'you found out
you had in common?

'Any other more
surprising discoveries?'

'Well, sometimes
when you think

'you're having
a unique though! or idea

'and you go to share it
with someone

'and they say, "Your brother
just told me."

- 'It's a little annoying.'
- [David] 'It's funny.'

'It's a little annoying,
it's unnerving.'

[David] Being in business
with my brothers

damaged our relationship.

There were conflicting
work ethics,

and my father
had passed away.

He really anchored us together
as a group

and kepi (he peace
so lo speak,

They started to argue
like kids would argue, you know.

And they didn't have
that opportunity,

that gilt of being able
to be brothers for 18 years.

When you are living
in a family of children

you learn how w adjust
to each other.

If I don't like the way
you do this, I can get angry,

or I can learn to compromise.

But they met as adults.

And had never learned
how to live with each other.

As things went on,
things go! more complicated,

and as things
got more complicated,

what ended up happening
was I left.

[David] When Bobby
left the business

Eddy and I felt
that we were being betrayed.

Bobby felt that
he was being pushed out.

Either way, it did major, major
damage to the relationship.

[Alan] I think that took
an extreme loll on Eddy

more sothan I think
David and Bobby.

Eddy was always the one

who just wanted to have
everybody he at peace together,

and Eddy was, was very
upset about it.

He was kind oi crushed
about it. Ii was eating at him.

[Brenda] He dearly loved them,

and he wanted his brothers
to be together.

He was just not really sure
how lo deal with it all.

You're just seeing a lat more
kind of up and down behaviors,

erratic behaviors.

[Mrs Shanley] 'Eddy's
growing a heard.'

'Fur face, that's me.'

[Brenda] 'Jeez, wake the child.'

[Mrs Shanley] 'Jamie,
your daddy is fuzzy.'

You're just seeing a lot more
unnatural highs and lows.

He would call people and...
a! bizarre hours 01 the evening,

and then they would say,

"I haven't seen or heard
from Eddy in ten years.

"Why is he picking up
the telephone and calling me

"at two o'clock
in the morning?"

You know, those are,
those are signs.

This was just...
this was more

than just somebody
who needed counselling.

This was, like, really
something very, very serious.

[David] He could be
unbelievably chamuing.

'Hello?

Bu! the downswing
was a lot of anger.

Er... there was just
deep, deep darkness.

[Brenda] Manic depression

I think was what
they eventually said.

Il made sense in hindsight

I didn't walk down the aisle

thinking, you know,

"I have a man who is suiferi ng
from manic depression."

People will say, "How
could you not know?", but...

...he was so unique
and so wonderful and special,

you just... that was Eddy,
you know.

I was advised that he needed
to he in a... a facility.

I mean, I felt bad that
I put him through this trauma

of going into a psych ward

because I had been in a psych
ward and I know how hard I! is.

When I was a kid, I spent my
16th birthday in a psych ward.

We all were really
disturbed kids.

We were all under psychiatric
care when we were teenagers.

[David] We all had
very challenging

and dysfunctional teenage years.

Could we ask about personal.

One of you were involved
in a murder,

is that right?

Ah, it's uptn you guys.

No. No.

People Magazine...

One was accused of
being involved in a murder.

And it was me,

who never met this person
who was killed,

never was present
or anything like that.

Il was peer pressure.

Friends pressuring me
into covering for them,

telling a story for them
lathe police

and that pulled me
right into it.

I've never hurt anyone
in my life.

We know it,
we can feel it.

We can feel it.

A lot of people in this study
had dysfunctional childhoods

and some mental problems

and it raises questions,
you know.

If you are a person
who has devoted your life,

like Dr Neubauer has
to the study o! menial illness,

then is that a factor
that you are researching?

'The story is incredible.
This is a Disney movie.'

'It's a little darker
than a Disney movie.'

When we first met we realized
we had all these similarities,

we had similar
man nerisms,

we both had
studied film.

And then we also found out

we both had suffered
from depression.

So, this is the lefler

that I received
from Louise Wise Services.

"You were born at 12.51 pm
on October 919GB

"to a 29-year-old Jewish
single woman.

"She was very intelligent
with a high IO.

"She entered college
on a merit scholarship

"but emotional problems
interrupted her attendance,

"She had a history
of voluntary hospitalizations

"for emotional problems.

"Although I have not
been able lo locate

"the original medical reports,
secondary sources noted

"that your mother's diagnosis
was schizophrenia."

It was really disturbing
to read that my birth mother

had been in and out
of institutions.

I started finding out more

about the other twins
and triplets in the study,

and it turns out that
not only had many of them

struggled with mental
health problems.

But that their birth parents
had mental health issues.

And their adoptive families
had never been told.

[Interviewer] How possible is it

that your mother
had mental health issues?

Er... I don't think
they were severe.

L, I think that she was, er...

She may have had some minor,
minor issues, er...

She may have had some, a little
bit more than minor issues.

Were (he scientists
purposefully choosing children

whose biological parents
had a mental illness,

and placing them
into different homes

to see, is mental illness
hereditable.

[David] Eddy was in the hospital

for I think
it was three weeks.

And then he came back to work
at the restaurant.

I wasn't there. David
was with him, all the time.

I think maybe he can give you
better detail about it.

I was running the kitchen.

Eddy wasn't in.
I was running the kitchen,

he was running
the from 01 the house.

That's the way it worked.

And I didn't know where he was,
and he lived across the street.

[Janet] So, David called me
from the restaurant

and he asked me
to look out the window

to see if Eddy's car
was in the driveway,

because if it were
in (he driveway,

we knew that he was home.

So, (he car
was in the driveway,

and I said to David, er...

"Do you want me
to go over there?"

And David said, "Yes."

[Clears throat]

And she called me back
a few minutes later

and her voice
was trembling and shaking.

She said,
"You've gotta come home."

And I said, "Why?"

And she said, "Please,
you've just gotta come home."

Er...

And I, er... I pulled up
we lived across the street.

Ipulled up, kind of, just...
cop cars were all there

and I just kind of,
pulled up on... you know,

blocking half the street,
left the door open

and started running
into the house

and the cops grabbed me and
they wouldn't let me come in.

They said, "You don't,
you don't wanna see this.

"You can't see this,
you don't wanna see this.

"You, you don't wanna see this."

And that's when I knew
he was gone.

I told Bobby, "I need
to talk to you."

And it's as if he,
he kind o! knew.

He kind of knew, before
the words came out of my mouth.

Eddy committed suicide.

Eddy shot himself.

He look his own life.

I don't remember who told us.
I just remember darkness.

Buried him on Father's Day,
I gave the eulogy,

and I don't remember
everything I said,

but I do remember saying
(ha! my brother Eddy

could light up a room
with his smile.

W“? Edd? wh ' I' Edd ?
why not n19? Y

I've asked myself
that a hundred times.

I'd rather it was me
than Eddy.

I, I don't know why Eddy
and why no! me.

Maybe just because...

I don'! know,
I just don't know.

L, I, I can't answer this.

[Interviewer] Thank you, Bobby.

Oh, you're welcome.

[David] I'd like to know
the lruth about the experiment.

My understanding, within
this small group of twins

that were separated
and studied,

(here was more
than one suicide.

It's almost impossible
just to be a coincidence.

Given Eddy's mental illness...

...who knows
what's in their DNA.

[David] If they have
anything conclusive

that is in any way predicting
anything in the future

that I need to know about,
I wanna know about it.

[Bobby] There is still so much
that we don't know.

I have more questions
than I have answers.

[Wright] One v1 the things
about being a joumalisi

is that you don't know
what you are gonna find out.

Sometimes you know
what you didn't find out

which is frustrating
like with this story.

Well, I didn't get
to the bottom of it

because I never got
to see the study.

As no one has, you know.

That would be the bottom of it.

But that's why
this is so tantalizing.

Here's the research
that I kept

from when I was writing
about twins.

It's been a while since
I've had a look at this box.

Oh, this is interesting.

Mini cassettes.

Before he passed away I managed
to talk to Dr Neubauer.

He was reluctant,

he had not ever spoken about it
to my knowledge.

All right, M's see
what he has to say.

[Switches player on]

'OK, I've got it on now.

'How did (his study
come about?'

[Neubauer] 'I tell you,

'I would rather
not want to speak about it.'

[Wright] 'Oh, really? Why?'

[Neubauer] 'Until
we have published it.'

[Wright] 'Oh, uh-huh.
When do you plan to publish it?'

[Neubauer] 'Well, maybe,
we would publish

'in about a year,
a year and a half from now.'

[Wright] He was certainly
illusive,

he was protecting something.

'Well, tell me a little bit
about the scope of the study

'and how many people
were involved in it?'

[Neubauer] 'The study was only
based on a small number

'of identical twins
separated at birth,

'for many, many reasons.

'I don! want to talk
about that now.

'We had to stop it because
it became too expensive.'

[Wright] 'Who was
your primary support?'

[Neubauer] 'Oh. some private
family foundations.

[inaudible]

'We gm some money
from Washington.'

[Wright] 'OK.'

Private charities and
Washington, what does (ha! mean?

And I don't know where
theirfunding came from.

[Wright] 'OK, (hanks again
for your time.'

[Neuhauer] 'Bye!

[End of recording]

[Wright] I think that there's
a great deal of sensitivity

about this story.

There's a lot of powerful people

who would like
to have this story silenced.

[Interviewer] What happened
to the study

as far as you're aware?

Before Neubauer died in 2008,

he left
all (he research materials

in an archive
at Vale University.

Neubauer placed it under seal,
for decades and decades.

So far as I know
nobodfs been able to access it.

[David] Er...
what do we have here?

Wow.

This is the Vale University
website, and this appears to be

the Guide to Adoption
Study Records

of the Child Development Center.

68 boxes filled
with information:

charts, films and tapes
and research findings.

Home visits, that's a big one.

It says that the dates of the
study were from 1960 to 1980.

I guess our reunion,
kind of closed the study.

"Information about access.

"The records are restricied
until 2065."

It's sealed!

So, they did
all that they did

to have this whole list
tucked away

in a dusty library somewhere,
where nobody can touch it.

"Researchers wishing
to use these records

"before this date must secure

"written authorization
from the Jewish Board

"of Family and Children's
Services."

The Jewish Board
was the parent organization

of the Child Development Center
run by Peter Neubauer.

My understanding is that

they are a very, very
powerful organization

with very deep
political connections,

[Calling tone]

[Receptionist]
'Thank you for calling

'the Jewish Board of Family
and Children Services.'

[Man] 'Hello!

Yes, hi. My name
is David Kellman, er...

and apparently, I was a,
one of the subjects of a study,

run by the Child Development
Center many years ago,

and it's being kept
at Yale University.

- [Man] Wes?'
- And on their website it says

that I would need permission
from (he board

in order to gain access
to those records,

and somehow (he receptionist
gal me to you.

[Man] 'Huh. 0K. Er...

'I'm not aware of any of that
stufl or when the study was,

'hut I can...'

There have been
a number of journalists

and as far as I know,
some of the twins

that were involved
in (his study

who have tried to gain access
to this material.

So far as I know
they haven't been able lo see

the results of this study.

Is there a way that I can go
directly to someone

that would he able
to provide access to me,

as I was one of the subjects
within the study?

If anybody should have the right
to see all this material,

it's the people
that were actually

the subject oi the study.

They should know
what was learned.

[Man] 'I mean, I have no idea

'who would even be the one
to ask right now.

'I would need
to look into that.'

OK, so you're the first line
of delense, so (o speak.

- [Man] 'l guess, yeah.'
- [Both chuckle]

OK, I will send an email to you.
I'll pulaflhe subject line,

is going to be, er...
"Twin Studies".

[Man] 'Gotcha!

[David] Louise Wise Services
is long closed.

Peter Neubauer passed away.

And yet we still
don! know exactly

what they were looking for,
or what they found out.

[Perlman] I'm a Clinical
Psychologist

and I was a research assistant
on Peter Neuhauefs study.

I believe I am the only person

who worked
on this study

who is
willing

to go
on record

about what
was done.

I was 24.

This is essentially
my first job.

You know, you had to be careful
to not let on that, er...

"Gee, you lookjust
like your, your twin brother."

I would've been fired
on the spot, right?

Il was a little tempting, yeah,

there was, there was
a little bit of temptation.

It's like,
"Hey, I, I know your twin.

"I saw somebody a week ago
who was exactly like you."

The question whether
I feel guilty is interesting

because I never felt
a responsibility.

I came on
after this was designed.

However. I was a participant,

so you could say I was
ethically compromised by (hat.

In retrospect I think it was
undoubtedly ethically wrong.

I got some notes here. OK.

OK.

[Sighs]

These are my actual
original notes,

copies of psychologicals
(ha! I did.

[Interviewer] And who in, who in
particular are in these files?

Well, I have the triplets.

Hmm... Oh, here we go.

I, I'm not gonna mention
the name. but, er...

[Clears throat]

"He's a loud, energetic boy.

"His need to establish
his autonomy

"takes to the form
of showing off,

"both his intelligence
and his strength,

"and putting clown others
including his parents."

Yeah, this one's eager
to show off his new bicycle

and all of his sports equipment
while I filmed him.

He was very intense
in his play

and got quite... rough.

This kid had some problems.

Hyper aggressiveness.

OK, so apparently,

these parents
are not cognizant

of his problems,
nor are they able to help him

understand his weaknesses

and establish more appropriate
control over his actions.

So, I didn't think the parents
were very tuned in

to the struggles
this youngster was having.

What were (he findings
of [he study?

I have no idea because
I left the study after 10 months

and the results
were never published,

All I have is my Iiltle,
tiny piece.

It's a mystery,
it's a huge loss.

All this important
scientific data

is just buried
in these archives.

[Interviewer] So, some people
have speculated

that the purpose of the study,
ultimate purpose,

was looking at mental health.

I... there was, there was never
a mention of mental health

of the biological parents
when I was in the study.

We were not interested
in mental health,

that's no! what
we were interested in.

We were looking
for differences in parenting.

We wanted to understand
parenting practices

and how it would affect
development.

So, you're saying
they were interested more

in the family dynamics?

But they couldn't have
known that. The}; didn't know

how the families
were going to interact

with this newly-adopted child.

The only way
they could possibly know

about (he family dynamics

was if they already had a child
placed in that family.

[Newsreader] 'Another
astonishing coincidence

'in this story
is that each of the brothers

'grew up in iheir families
with an adopted sister,

'all the girls
now 21 years old.'

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Perlman] The triplets,
they all had an older sibling.

They were placed in families

where there was an older
adopted child

that had been placed with,
by Louise Wise.

That was pan of the design.

It's good to see you.

It's good to see you.

[Interviewer] I'd just like
to show you guys a clip.

It's Lawrence Perlman, who was
a Researcher on the study.

[Perlman] 'What were
the findings of the study?

'I have no idea because
they were never published.

'We were looking
for differences in parenting.

'We wanted to understand
parenting practices

'and how it would affect
development.

'The triplets
were placed in families

'where (here was an older
adopted child

'that had been placed with,
by Louise Wise.

'Thai was pan of the design.'

[Interviewer] How do you feel
watching that?

- [Sniggers]
- Like a lab rat.

It, it only just makes it
that much... it just only...

ll just makes it...

- That much worse.
- ...much more duplicitous.

Er...

They're not just
studying the kids,

but they're studying
(he parents.

So, they did in fact know the
parenting style of each parent.

So, this was not, you know...

Obviously it was far
from a random selection.

They knew exactly
who (hey had chosen

lo place each one of us with
when they called the Gallands,

and the Kellmans,
and the Shafrans.

In terms of how
they parented their children

(he three families

were quite,
quite diflerenl.

Er...

David's father stood out.

There was nobody in the world
like his son.

He was so proud of him.
Whatever he did was wonderful.

Bobby's father
was very busy as a doctor

and didn't have the time
to he with Bobby

that David's father had,

but was as devoted to him
as possible.

The most traditional
was Eddy's father...

...who was rather strict.
He was (he boss.

He made the rules and Eddy
was supposed to follow.

Eddy's relationship
with his father...

...il couldn't have been good.

And that mailers.

[Interviewer] And why do you
say it couldn't have been good?

Because otherwise,
I would have known him,

we would have seen him,

Eddy would have talked
about him.

This was the last picture
we ever had of Edward.

He was very gregarious.

He got into all the things
young hays do.

He wrecked a car

and a few things
like that, but...

I mean, occasionally
ldisciplined him.

[Brenda] Eddy and his dad
were very different as people.

Eddy was more artsy, kinda kid,
you know, he wasn't into sports.

Elliott had a very
strong militaristic

kind oi approach to life,
very traditional.

He was a teacher,
he was all about punctuality.

I was a strict disciplinarian,

and my children
unfortunately

had me as a strict
disciplinarian too.

[Brenda] Eddy said he always
sort of didn't feel

like he fit in with his family.

He always felt like, like
he wasn't in the right place.

[Interviewer] How much
did you have any sense

that Edward was unhappy?

He didn't discuss
his problems with me.

We were a rather quiet family.

We didn't tell our problems
to one another.

We protected each other.
ll was a nice family.

Some people
are just no! a good fit.

It wasn't his father's fault.

Elliot did what he believed
to be best as a parent.

They were just different people.

I got the phone call from...
I believe it was Bobby.

And he told me to sit down

and I said no need to.

And he told me about it.

And then standing right there

I went over to my wife

and told her Edward
had committed suicide.

And we stood there
for quite a while, crying.

And... that was it.

I often wondered whether
I didn't teach him something...

"because of the way he left.

I don't know.

Maybe I didn't teach him
something,

how to live life or something.

Thai bothers me occasionally.

[Ellen] Why did the boys' lives
turn out completely different?

I don't need to read any hooks,

I don't need to read
any studies.

I saw I! first hand
with those three boys.

It's all about nurture.

[Audience applauds]

'These three young men

'they are all seated
in the same position.'

[Audience laughing]

[Schneider] We found
a lot of similariiies

because that's what people
were looking for.

They smoke the same
kind 01 cigarettes.

You say, "Oh my God,

'They're smoking Marlboros,
that's amazing.'

What you're not looking for
are their differences.

'I can't get over it,
I'm telling you.

'You all wrestled
at one time?'

[Triplets] 'Yes.'

We found the ways
(ha! we were alike

and we emphasized them
and we wanted to he alike.

We were falling in love
with each other.

[Brenda] I think there
were superficialities.

They liked the same things
and they had similar interests,

but deep down
they were different.

They were not a case study
of biology being destiny.

I've come to believe
genes and the environment

are close competitors.

You could say that we drift
in (he direction

that our genes (ell us to go

but it doesn't mean
you are destined

to be one person or another.

[David] I believe
that I'm still here today

because of (he foundation that
was given to me by my parents.

I believe that absolutely
made a difference

in terms of snuggling

with whatever demons
I struggle with.

[Hedy] I believe nature
and nurture both matter.

Bu! I think nurture
can overcome nearly everything.

Because the sludy's
never been published

we simply don't know
definitively

how many people's lives
were separated in this fashion.

There may still be twins
out there

who still don'! know
(hey are twins.

There are probably
at least four individuals

who were subjects
of (his study

who don't know
that they have a twin.

If they know that there
are still twins out there

that are missing out on life,
it boggles the mind.

There's two ways
of thinking about it.

These people really should know
(ha! there is a twin,

or, "Oh my God, these people
should not know

"that they were used this way,
that will make them so upset."

Maybe this is why the study
cannot be published as yet,

until they're gone.

Il really opens up
the possibility.

Anybody can just
walk around the comer

and discover that you
have a twin out there.