Vanishing Twin Syndrome (VTS)

This condition was first realized in 1945, but since the use of routine ultrasound (sonograph) scanning in pregnancies in the 1980's, vanishing twin syndrome, or VTS, has been diagnosed much more frequently. Some researchers believe this phenomenon many occur in as many as 1 in 8 pregnancies.

A wombtwin is the term that has been used since 2003 to describe the fetus or embryo that was a twin, triplet or other multiple, but died very early in the pregnancy. When this occurs, the vanished twin simply disappears, leaving no evidence of its existence. In most cases the fetus is partially or completely reabsorbed by the mother's body. Occasionally, some evidence of the vanished twin remains and results in what is known as fetus papyraceus (paper fetus) where the flattened, parchment-like fetus can be found embedded in the placenta.

If the wombtwin is absorbed completely by the mother's body, there are usually no complications to the pregnancy. Rarely, however, the fetus dies in the second or third trimester, and serious complications may result.

In most cases, vanishing twin syndrome occurs very early in pregnancy and may not even be known to have occurred, leaving no detectable trace at birth or before.

Many articles have been written about VTS, and how the mother is affected by the loss, in utero, of one of her babies, but little is known about the remaining child born of such pregnancy called a wombtwin survivor. Does he or she have memories of their vanished twin? Does he or she feel lonely? Research shows no scientific evidence of this, but to the wombtwin survivor, I wonder if this is really the case.

My Personal Experience: Am I a wombtwin survivor?

A wombtwin survivor is the surviving child of a co-twin who died in the womb. There are millions of wombtwins in the world today, but most of them do not know that they had a twin. It is said that wombtwins yearn for and search for their lost twin throughout their whole lives. I believe I am one of these people.

As far back as I can remember, I have felt that I had my lost twin. I was born in the early 1940's, long before information on the vanishing twin syndrome was even known, long before ultrasound; yet, I have always had this unexplained feeling of loss--that some part of me was missing. I felt I once had a twin brother. There is no explanation for this, it's just something I know. I spent hours of my childhood crying for my lost brother and on any occasion that a wish was in order--like blowing out birthday candles, wishing upon the first star or pulling on my half of a wishbone, my ONLY wish, for many, many years, was for a brother/my brother. I never sensed that my twin was a sister, always a brother.

Documentation on wombtwin survivors has been almost non-existent, but recently I ran across a few scattered articles and a website called wombtwin.com. This site is written by a woman who is a wombtwin survivor, herself, and has interesting information to share. She is writing a book on the subject and is asking for other wombtwin survivors to fill out a questionnaire. If you are interested in knowing if you may be a wombtwin survivor, go to the website link at the end of this article. You may find some very valuable information there.

If you have unexplained feelings of loss, abandonment, have been searching for something all your life but I don't know what it is, or other feelings you cannot explain,they may be due to the imprint of 'Someone Else' that shared the womb with you. These feelings are expressed in the body, mind and spirit of the wombtwin survivor and remain always in the heart.