Product Description

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. These stories, published anonymously, reveal that the loss of a twin before birth leaves a marked impression on the survivor. They describe some of the physical signs that there was once a twin, such as a fetus papyraceous or an ultrasound image of two sacs. They also reveal that there is a deep psychological effect on the surviving twin which takes many forms, including a sense of something missing, imaginary friends and feeling strangely alone, even among friends. The longer stories describe a long and difficult journey in search of healing - a journey that ends with a ritual of letting go. The anthology includes a glossary and Althea's personal story as an epilogue, for she is a wombtwin survivor herself. Of interest to wombtwin survivors, their families and experts in multiple birth and twinning; essential reading for therapists who have wombtwin survivors among their patients or clients and important material for any psychotherapist interested in pre-birth influences on human psychology. Psychologists and students of philosophy who wish to learn about pre-birth memories and how they may be influencing adult behaviours, will find in these stories fresh insights and astonishing new ideas. It will be hard for most of the population at large to discern whether these stories are wise or simply weird. Is this idea of a psychological effect a matter of fact or un-scientific foolishness? Are these stories authentic or absurd? Meanwhile, as the world debates, wombtwin survivors will rejoice that at last their story is told and their cries are no longer silent.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155057 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 236 pages

About the Author
born in England and educated at Oxford University. She qualified as a counsellor in 1999 at the University of Hertfordshire. In 2002 she started a self-funded, private research project to explore the psychological effects on the surviving twin of the death of a co-twin before birth. This was mainly centred around her www.wombtwin.com web site. In 2007, with the help of a Millennium Award, given under the UnLtd Awards scheme for social entrepreneurs, Althea founded Wombtwin.com Ltd, a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing information, help and support to wombtwin survivors, their families and the many therapists who come across wombtwin survivors in the course of their work. Althea also edited the first anthology of the Wombtwin project, entitled Untwinned: perspectives on the death of a twin before birth.