Identical twins write book about separation, unexpected reunion

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — For 35 years, Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein shared nothing more than their DNA.

Their school days took place in separate states.

Their holidays were celebrated in unrelated homes.

And their milestones were marked in different family photo albums.

But not by choice.

Unbeknownst to them and to their respective adoptive parents, the identical twins were separated at birth and made subjects for a secret nature versus nurture study conducted by a pair of child psychiatrists connected to their adoption agency.

Now Bernstein, whose adoptive parents live on Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Schein, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., have written a book recounting how their lives have become entwined once more.

SOMETHING MISSING

While Schein spent her formative years with her adoptive family in Oklahoma, Bernstein grew up in New York. Both women served as editors of their high school newspapers. Both pursued film studies after graduation.

And both remained unaware of the other's existence — until Schein reached her mid-30s and began searching for information about her biological mother.

"I was living on my own in Paris and had reached the age that (my adoptive mother) was when she died, and I felt that I was an adult," Schein said. "I felt it was really time to get to the bottom of this mystery that had always shadowed my life. Even though I had said to friends at different times, 'I feel like I'm missing a twin,' I thought that it was just a common metaphor people use to express loneliness. It was certainly a shock when I found out."

While Schein reeled from the discovery — both "exhilarated and unnerved" that she had found a missing piece of the puzzle — Bernstein remained unaware. The freelance writer was enjoying marriage, motherhood and the stability she was experiencing in life after her angst-ridden 20s. Unlike Schein, she had not felt an inclination to find out about her past and had even written a freelance piece for a magazine titled, "Why I Don't Want To Find My Birth Mother."