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Estranged identical twins ended up living the exact same life despite being separated at birth

Home> Community> Life

Updated 17:32 19 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 17:29 19 Dec 2024 GMT

Estranged identical twins ended up living the exact same life despite being separated at birth

The twins were so alike, despite having never met each other

Joe Yates

Joe Yates

Separated at birth and put up for adoption, a pair of identical twins proved how genetically alike they were after meeting for the first time at the age of 39.

Incredibly, they were both named James by their adoptive parents but the pair preferred to be called Jim... so let's talk about the incredible story of Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, also known as 'the Jim twins'.

I've never written Jim so many times in my life.

Born in Ohio, the pair were both told they had a twin when they were born but that their brother had died - Lewis found out at the age of five, while Springer was eight when he heard.

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For the next 30 years they never batted an eyelid. So, the first detail they had in common was one they had no control over, which we've already discussed - their name - and they only lived 40 miles away from each other.

They both found love twice - first they both met and married women called Linda.

Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were identical twins who were separated at birth (YouTube)
Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were identical twins who were separated at birth (YouTube)

Unfortunately that didn't work out for Jim, nor did it work out for the other Jim, so they divorced their respective Lindas.

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Jim then met Betty, while Jim also found a woman named Betty, and they tied the knot - yes Springer and Lewis both married separate Lindas and Bettys before ever knowing each other.

The similarities don't stop there, as the two men discovered they had the same taste in beer and preferred to smoke the same brand of cigarettes.

When they were asked to be part of a scientific study, they got incredibly similar results for tests determined to work out their personality and medical history, and when they were asked to draw a picture they both drew the same thing.

The 'Jim twins' had an astounding amount of similarities (YouTube/The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson)
The 'Jim twins' had an astounding amount of similarities (YouTube/The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson)

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Fortunately, there are some differences, otherwise this would be in incredibly eerie tale, as one twin ended up getting married a third time to a woman named Sandy, which was not emulated by the other Jim.

In February 1979, the Jim Twins were finally reunited at the age of 39.

There are other surprising examples of twins living incredibly similar lives, with multiple cases of twins having children on the exact same day as their sibling.

Who knows, maybe you have a long lost identical twin somewhere out there living almost the exact same life as you? Though we doubt such a story will reach this level of similarities.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Topics: Science, US News

Joe Yates
Joe Yates

Joe is a journalist for UNILAD, who particularly enjoys writing about crime. He has worked in journalism for five years, and has covered everything from murder trials to celeb news.

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@JMYjourno

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