There are many different conspiracies and myths about twins. Most have been proven false but a few might be true.

Probably the most common myth about twins is the idea that they can read each other’s minds or, in other words, have “Twin telepathy”. For years scientists and other researchers have tried to find truth to this idea; however, they continuously came up empty handed.

“As researchers we don’t understand everything, but there’s no evidence so far that there’s any extra-sensory perception (ESP) there,” said genetic epidemiologist Jeff Craig.

However, twins tend to share a very close bond, because they have been together ever since birth. A bond so strong may lead to you knowing what another person is thinking, but this is no different than a regular friendship and has no significance about being a twin.

Senior twin Micah Partee said, ¨I don’t think I can read my twin’s mind in a literal sense,but being close to him my whole life has given us an unexplainable understanding of each other. We can usually predict what each other are thinking but are never certain.¨

An article on Live Science confirms this type of explanation; it is likely that twins might be so familiar with each other and their environment that they feel like they know what the other twin is feeling, but it is likely just the history of shared experiences. 

Triplets Destiny Smith said she’d call it more of an “intuition” than telepathy.

Another myth about twins is that twins can feel each other’s pain. Yet, there’s much evidence to prove this wrong as well. 

There have been many stories from twins across the world about how they were experiencing the worst pain of their life while their twin was somewhere else and had no idea anything was going on.

Junior twin Jenna Morris said, “My twin brother was in the hospital with appendicitis, and I had no clue. He was being taken into surgery while I was at basketball practice and felt no pain anywhere in my body.” 

One myth that has some truth to it is that certain foods increase your chance of having twins. There are foods that increase fertility, which ultimately increases the chance of conceiving twins. 

Dairy is said to help increase a woman’s chance of conceiving twins. First Cry Parenting shared that in 2006, a study showed that Vegan women, who exclude dairy products from their diets, have a twinning rate which is one-fifth that of vegetarians and omnivores.

Cows release an insulin growth hormone in their milk, which is believed to enhance the likelihood of having twins due to ovarian stimulation.

Yams have also been shown to increase the probability of twins. Yams are a rich source of 

progesterone and phytoestrogens which cause hyper-ovulation. 

You’ve probably heard someone say “Twins run in my family”; and many also believe that twins skip a generation; however, this is not true.

This would mean that twins are genetic, but that is not the case because there is no such thing as a twin gene. In fact, according to Very Well Family, if there was a twin gene however we should be able to predict the frequency of twins in families who would carry that gene, but researchers have found no specific pattern.

The Case triplets reported having a lot of twins in their family history, but of the six sets of twins interviewed, only two said they had other twins in their family history that they knew of, and only one said it was their grandparents.

There are many more myths and conspiracy theories about twins that are yet to have any truth to them; however, these three myths have all had extensive research to help find the truth behind them.