A collection of seventy poignant personal stories written by wombtwin survivors - that is, the sole survivors of a twin or multiple pregnancy. Edited by Althea Hayton, Project Director of Wombtwin.com, with a foreword by Elizabeth Noble, author of Primal Connections; and expert on pre-natal psychotherapy.
A Silent Cry
Untwinned
An anthology of twenty chapters about the death of a twin before birth from a variety of perspectives. A comprehensive treatment of the subject, including current, ground-breaking research into the death of a twin, both at birth and before, plus stories and poetry written by the survivors themselves. Of interest to parents, psychologists, therapists, and anyone who knew the death of their twin before birth.
Womb Twin Survivors
A comprehensive study of womb twin survivors, i.e. the sole survivors of a twin or multiple conception, which includes a "vanishing twin" pregnancy. An illustrated guide to the biology of twinning and multiple conceptions, which also describes the feelings of grief and loss felt by the sole survivor after the death of a twin during pregnancy or around birth. A detailed review of the eight-year Womb Twin research project carried out by Althea Hayton using an online questionnaire and involving many hundreds of womb twin survivors.
A self-help book for womb twin survivors, who are the sole survivors of a twin or multiple pregnancy. Thirty steps to healing, including the background theory, practical steps and self-development exercises. Based on the findings of the Womb Twin Survivors research project headed by Althea Hayton. Derived from hundreds of interviews with womb twin survivors, a path to healing is documented in full detail, illustrated with real stories and case studies of womb twin survivors at various stages on their journey.
A Healing Path for Womb Twin Survivors
A story for young womb twin survivors, to be read together with a parent or carer. Two little birds, Birdie and Beaky, hatch out of the same egg but only Birdie is strong enough to fly. Beaky is too weak to remain with Birdie and soon disappears into a field of flowers, leaving Birdie alone. Through the medium of a single white feather, which once belonged to Beaky, Birdie is able gradually to come to terms with the loss. Complete with 14 simple, richly-coloured illustrations. Additional notes included for parents and carers, to assist them in speaking openly to a young womb twin survivor about their missing twin. (For ages 2-7)
Two Little Birds
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What we don't know can still deeply affect us! This book contains groundbreaking material that expands the horizons of self-awareness. For many people it has implications that are enormous and far reaching. It is a medical fact that more than one in eight people began their journey into life not on their own. They had a wombtwin or were part of a multiple pregnancy. It is a medical fact that for every set of twins born, at least one in five were triplets. There is ever increasing evidence that the memory of this early loss can be carried through life as a form of psychological trauma that has previously been unrecognized and usually misdiagnosed.
The Twinless Self
The Lone Twin
People are fascinated with twins - intrigued by their closeness with each other. But what happens when twins are separated, especially by death? Twin mortality is high, but it is not uncommon for a lone twin's loss, at any age, to go unmarked. They need extra help and support to take them through the loss of their 'other half.' The loss of a twin can be devastating to the survivor. Working as an Attachment therapist, Joan Woodward uses John Bowlby's theories as her conceptual base for her research. In this book, she suggests that the highly significant attachment that twins make with each other may begin, for many, before birth. She explains their closeness and tragic experience of death and bereavement.
In her second book on twin loss, Lynne Schulz skillfully weaves together poignant anecdotes and professional advice to guide parents in raising surviving multiples. Schulz fills a critically unmet need, as no existing books address in detail the challenge of nurturing survivors' emotional health while keeping the memories of equally desired siblings alive.
The Survivor
My Twin Vanished: Did Yours?
The deepest imprinting for the personality of a human develops in the womb. It is a little-known fact that one out of eight single births began as twins. Saddled with the loss of this ultimate relationship even before birth, tens of millions of Americans have gone in search of that relationship. In their searches, they become lost in dysfunctional cycles of addiction, abuse, sickness, mental illness, or suicide, without even knowing why. In My Twin Vanished, Dr. Brent Babcock shows that these painful and dysfunctional patterns can be traced back to the phenomenon of the vanished twin.
Primal Connections
Thought provoking and life affirming, this fascinating exploration of prenatal and birth experience's long term impact describes how primal therapy, hypnosis, visualization, and body work aid in gaining access to our deepest, earliest memories. Those early experiences may explain chronic conditions resistant to traditional treatments.
Drama in the Womb: The Surviving Twin
Alfred R. Austermann is a psychologist (MA) and psychotherapist. Bettina Austermann is a mental health professional (MA) and social education worker.
In their work as psychotherapists they discovered the immense impact of the loss of a twin in the womb for the survivor of this intrauterine catastrophe. Bereaved twins often suffer even in adult life, even if totally unconscious and forgotten, from the fact of having lost the beloved twin.
They wrote this book to explain the importance of this topic and to share their findings.
This book is available in several languages.
Fractals From The Womb
This book is an intriguing insight into our early beginnings and their influences on our character and personality in our life, and our relationship with family, work and the wider implications worldwide. Shirley Ward, in her long career as a pioneering pre- and perinatal psychotherapist, sets out clearly the basic principles of pre- and perinatal psychotherapy illustrated richly with case studies.
The Living Twin
Only in the last few years has psychology started to become interested in the effects that this experience [of the death of a twin in utero] may have on the surviving twin. What might the consequences be of spending the first weeks or months of one’s life with a twin in utero, but then to suffer their loss and be born alone? How can a person process and assimilate this primary experience, when frequently it is ignored and relegated to the unconscious levels of our self? The answers to these and other questions constitute the core of this book, which also includes around fifty testimonies that enable us to listen firsthand to the multiple manifestations that result from the experience of being a lone twin.
This book is available in Spanish, Portuguese, German and English.