After some recently transpired events, i realized my twin ship has afforded me a perspective worth sharing 
Let me start by saying, my twin sister and I share A) our last name (duh), B) the same first three letters of our first names, C) the same middle initial, D) our birthday (given), and all but one number of our social security numbers.
Let me continue by adding that I wouldn't change this fact for the world and love having a name similar to hers ... but it makes life complicated. Seriously. And I'm speaking on behalf of all twins in the same situation.
Now a 24-year-old adult, the similarities in our "form(s) of identification" are a lot more serious than being called the wrong name. Let me give you a few (all too real-life) examples.
A) Combined credit scores. All three bureaus
If you caught on years after the fact, years into mistaken financial info like we did .... nightmare.
"No, fourth person I've talked to regarding identity fraud, I am not scamming the government, any institution, or committing identity theft. Kindly unfreeze my bank accounts, please."
No wonder my credit was always so low, I had her student loan and bankruptcy. We didn't even begin to try and establish responsibility for the $10,000+ of medical bills in collections, which brings me to my next point.
B) Medical records
No matter how many times I mention and politely remind staff I AM A TWIN, DO NOT COMBINE OUR MEDICAL HISTORY, the message falls through the cracks.
Really though, who can blame them? Printed as "LAST NAME, FIRST THREE LETTERS OF FIRST NAME, MIDDLE INITIAL." on most official paperwork, we are basically the same person. (The only reason this is kind of a biggie is because I have a heart condition that requires regular care).
C) Medical bills and insurance
I've got the "we are not committing insurance fraud, double billing the same procedure, twice for the same person" speech down pat. Growing up, this was an issue as well ... just for my mom. Multiple. Multiple. Providers over the years and have quite literally been told the "while it may be a simple mix up, the risk of caring for your health is too risky." To be fair, it's improved immensely over the years.
D) Plane tickets/booking via any type of government transportation
Does my mom think she's gonna get away with buying two seats on a plane for "two different people with identical names." Not a chance. Back when 9/11 first happened, we were flagged as security threats on more than a few flights, refused the right to board and given the "shrugged shoulder" response. (No grudges held). After all, how is your name printed on an airline ticket?
E) Matters of the law
This one is fun, almost like playing guess who as a "criminal." Long story short, she had a warrant for failing to appear at a court date (traffic tickets, nothing serious .... she went at 2:30, not seeing the '1' in 12:30). Later that week, I appear for jury duty. Yup. I've never been looked at it such disbelief, explaining "they're looking for my twin sister, she's the one in trouble." Lol ...
Another fun time: my car was mistakenly booted instead of hers (again, she never pays traffic tickets). Same kind of car, relatively "same" color on paper (silver vs. navyish dark gray), registered to two different people ... the guy just called it good at the same make, model, birthday, and name on his paperwork ... IGNORING THE LICENSE PLATE number. Again, true story.
Driving/criminal record? Combined combined combined. ... combined. We gave up on that one lol (luckily no misdemeanors or felonies) oh, under "other aliases," the opposite twin's info is always listed because "they've heard that one before."
F) Matters of personal finance
Filing taxes... especially since we've always enjoyed working at the same company. I'll save you the listen.
Credit cards/loans. - it's basically a race to see who can get approved the fastest, the first on scene to coincidentally avoid hours of paperwork and wasted time (I'm 0 for 3).
G) Official academic business
-SAT/ACT cheating scandals
-college tuition/financial aid status (btw, financial aid is awarded "per family," AKA: Cut in half if you're a twin.
Please understand, while I'm complaining and whining your ears and eyes off, this post is loaded with sarcasm and in jest (100% true though.).
Do I hate being named like my twin? Never once.
Am I or have I ever been upset with my mom for knowing how to pick 'em? Nope.
Did I always dream of naming my (hopeful) future twins the same? Indeed.
Do I still dream of naming them the same, knowing what I know now? You bet.
Just wanted to share some food for thought from a twin
... No matter what, we always have a great "twin' story to tell
Let me start by saying, my twin sister and I share A) our last name (duh), B) the same first three letters of our first names, C) the same middle initial, D) our birthday (given), and all but one number of our social security numbers.
Let me continue by adding that I wouldn't change this fact for the world and love having a name similar to hers
... but it makes life complicated. Seriously. And I'm speaking on behalf of all twins in the same situation. Now a 24-year-old adult, the similarities in our "form(s) of identification" are a lot more serious than being called the wrong name. Let me give you a few (all too real-life) examples.
A) Combined credit scores. All three bureaus
If you caught on years after the fact, years into mistaken financial info like we did .... nightmare.
"No, fourth person I've talked to regarding identity fraud, I am not scamming the government, any institution, or committing identity theft. Kindly unfreeze my bank accounts, please."
No wonder my credit was always so low, I had her student loan and bankruptcy. We didn't even begin to try and establish responsibility for the $10,000+ of medical bills in collections, which brings me to my next point.
B) Medical records
No matter how many times I mention and politely remind staff I AM A TWIN, DO NOT COMBINE OUR MEDICAL HISTORY, the message falls through the cracks.
Really though, who can blame them? Printed as "LAST NAME, FIRST THREE LETTERS OF FIRST NAME, MIDDLE INITIAL." on most official paperwork, we are basically the same person. (The only reason this is kind of a biggie is because I have a heart condition that requires regular care).
C) Medical bills and insurance
I've got the "we are not committing insurance fraud, double billing the same procedure, twice for the same person" speech down pat. Growing up, this was an issue as well ... just for my mom. Multiple. Multiple. Providers over the years and have quite literally been told the "while it may be a simple mix up, the risk of caring for your health is too risky." To be fair, it's improved immensely over the years.
D) Plane tickets/booking via any type of government transportation
Does my mom think she's gonna get away with buying two seats on a plane for "two different people with identical names." Not a chance. Back when 9/11 first happened, we were flagged as security threats on more than a few flights, refused the right to board and given the "shrugged shoulder" response. (No grudges held). After all, how is your name printed on an airline ticket?
E) Matters of the law
This one is fun, almost like playing guess who as a "criminal." Long story short, she had a warrant for failing to appear at a court date (traffic tickets, nothing serious .... she went at 2:30, not seeing the '1' in 12:30). Later that week, I appear for jury duty. Yup. I've never been looked at it such disbelief, explaining "they're looking for my twin sister, she's the one in trouble." Lol ...
Another fun time: my car was mistakenly booted instead of hers (again, she never pays traffic tickets). Same kind of car, relatively "same" color on paper (silver vs. navyish dark gray), registered to two different people ... the guy just called it good at the same make, model, birthday, and name on his paperwork ... IGNORING THE LICENSE PLATE number. Again, true story.
Driving/criminal record? Combined combined combined. ... combined. We gave up on that one lol (luckily no misdemeanors or felonies
) oh, under "other aliases," the opposite twin's info is always listed because "they've heard that one before."F) Matters of personal finance
Filing taxes... especially since we've always enjoyed working at the same company. I'll save you the listen.
Credit cards/loans. - it's basically a race to see who can get approved the fastest, the first on scene to coincidentally avoid hours of paperwork and wasted time (I'm 0 for 3).
G) Official academic business
-SAT/ACT cheating scandals
-college tuition/financial aid status (btw, financial aid is awarded "per family," AKA: Cut in half if you're a twin.
Please understand, while I'm complaining and whining your ears and eyes off, this post is loaded with sarcasm and in jest (100% true though.
).Do I hate being named like my twin? Never once.
Am I or have I ever been upset with my mom for knowing how to pick 'em? Nope.
Did I always dream of naming my (hopeful) future twins the same? Indeed.
Do I still dream of naming them the same, knowing what I know now? You bet.
Just wanted to share some food for thought from a twin
... No matter what, we always have a great "twin' story to tell
