Study This! Separating Siblings for Science

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These two women had always known they were adopted but had no idea that they had a sibling, let alone an identical twin!

At 35, when one started searching for her birth family, they found out that researchers had intentionally separated them, and as many other twins and triplets as they could get their mitts on, specifically so they could study the nature v. nurture thing. To top it all off, these separated siblings have no legal recourse. The study results won’t even be available until 2066. Did the birth parents know their kids would be separated?

I guess I’d have made a lousy scientist because there’s no way I could ever have devised, or agreed to, something so callous. Here’s hoping they don’t give up on the legal angle so no one ever comes up with this type of psychological Tuskegee experiment again.

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Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do. That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

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