Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

While the sadness or sense loss and grief that a parent who undergoes the Vanishing Twin Syndrome is easy to understand, the ramifications for the surviving twin are also believed to be not inconsiderable in terms of the feelings of loss and bereavement.

In fact, it is not uncommon that doctors may not reveal the presence of twins at the first ultrasound to the mother, lest a subsequent episode of a vanishing twin trigger feelings of loss.

There exists a belief that the twin who survives the vanishing of sibling from its mother’s womb may feel emotions of loss and aloneness and a sense of missing someone that may not be explained any other way.

Among twins, a closeness and intimacy is often observed that may exceed that which is seen in siblings who are not twins. Though it is sometimes claimed that intra uterine experiences somehow form a part of conscious memory, and even twins may not remember such experiences, their relationship is usually strong throughout life.

A twin that survives the vanishing twin syndrome may have feelings of unreasonable guilt or responsibility, may fear sleeping alone, may display excessive emotional sensitivity and even develop eating disorders or problems with relationships and sexual identity it is believed.