What is Vanishing Twin Syndrome (and Could You be a Womb Twin Survivor)?
Womb twin survivors are the sole survivors of a twin or multiple pregnancy. The term vanishing twin is used when one of the fetuses in a multiple pregnancy dies in utero and is either miscarried, reabsorbed into the uterine lining of the mother or into the living twin. A surviving co-twin somehow 'knows' this deep loss, close to their very core. It is estimated that 10 – 15% of pregnancies have a vanished twin and nowadays that rate is higher due to increase in fertility treatments, such as IVF.
However, because the loss of the twin can occur before the first ultrasound, parents and doctors might never consciously know that this happened. The bond between twins is even stronger than the bond between mother and child and the loss of a twin is deeply felt by the one that survives, who experiences the death of the one they are closest to before they are born.
Could you be a vanishing twin survivor?
Here are some characteristics that could point at having a vanishing twin:
Feeling of loss
An unexplainable feeling of guilt (survival guilt)
Finds Goodbyes especially painful
Feeling somehow undeserving
Melancholy or grief that accompanies you in life
Constantly searching for something or someone (“soulmate”, spirituality, partners friends….) but nothing seems to be enough
Longing for close relationships, projecting that sibling in the role of a friend or partner and it being too much for the other (especially if they do not have a vanishing twin).
Sabotaging close relationships (fear of losing the other again)
Feeling of not belonging
Feeling left out or left behind
Don’t like to celebrate birthdays
Struggle to love oneself/self esteem
Overly responsible
Buying things in pairs
Working for two
Fascination by twins
If you resonate with many of these, there is a possibility that you may have had a twin when you were in your mom’s womb. A Energy Healing session or Family Constellation session could help you to see if this may have been your case and, if so, to give a place in your heart to your twin so that you yourself can take your own place in your family and therefore in the outside world.