# Did Left-Handed People 'Absorb' Their Right-Handed Twins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607 "2004-04-12T14:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/21 "2004-04-13T00:53:03Z")
So, OP, what are you saying? That two rights make a left? I always thought it was three. (You know, as in: "Two wrongs don’t make a right, but three lefts do.) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/22 "2004-04-13T01:49:06Z")
> [@Emilio Lizardo](#): > > I can’t find a cite right now but I recall that there is such a thing as a “merged twin” where two embryos combine to form a single individual. IIRC the phenomenon was discovered when a woman and her children were tested for organ-donor compatibility – the test showed that she was not related to her own children! As a merged twin she had eggs from both embryos, so the ones that got fertilized were actually from the other twin. > > A doc could give much more information. This case was actually written up in a journal of medicine. And the thing about the twins being absorbed, I did run across that while doing some online research about chimeras. Being left-handed, that article stuck in my mind. Seems some scientists hold this theory, and I’ve heard that as many as 1 in 8 pregnancies actually starts out as twins. There is a rather common idea that dermoid cysts are “absorbed twins” but this is not true. Regardless of the fact that the Catholic Church used to make the “mother” of a dermoid cyst have it baptized upon removal. ---
**Author:** ![cheapbastardon38thstreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cheapbastardon38thstreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheapbastardon38thstreet)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/23 "2004-04-13T02:21:50Z")
My stomach was full as it could be And nobody ever got around To finding Timothy ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/24 "2004-04-13T03:17:06Z")
Obligatory [Onion](http://www.theonion.com/onion3613/prenatal_shooting.html) link. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OxfordStan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6f9a4e/32.png) [@OxfordStan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxfordStan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/25 "2011-06-07T16:56:43Z")
This is not a proven theory, nor is it possible to prove. The theory itself however is known as the ‘vansihing twin theory’. The idea being that there are either 2 distinct causes of left handedness or that left handers were once part of multiples that got absorbed or didn’t survive for whatver reason. AN Austrialian scientist claimed to have debunked the Vanishing Twin theory some years ago: > **[Health & Medical News - Vanishing twin theory debunked - 15/03/2002](https://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_505182.htm)** > > ABC Online Index - Science News however the reason that the he didn’t is that a second zygote may disapear within hours of a women being pregnant. To monitor this process effecitvely would mean monitoring each women effectviely from the moment of conception. This, of course, is massively impractical and impossible to achieve under scientific conditions. So jry is likely to be forever out on this one but one of two things can be said. Either:- 1. There are 2 kinds of lefties; or 2. Lefties were once part of multiples There is a good Time article explaining why these 2 should be the case: [www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744966,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744966,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/26 "2011-06-07T17:09:26Z")
> [@JerH](#): > > I’m curious where you heard this. While I’m not an expert on fetal development, I can’t imagine a connection between embryonic homicide and which hand you use to write with. “[Left-handedness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-handedness)” is not just about the hand one may use to write or throw a ball. It’s merely an outward visual sign of someone who may be [brain-wired](http://www.google.com/search?q=brain+dominance) very differently than the larger “right-handed” population. It seems to me those who have issue with left-handedness and the larger brain hemisphere dominance issues are part of the inferior, right-handedness majority. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/27 "2011-06-07T17:16:17Z")
> [@Emilio\_Lizardo](#): > > the test showed that she was not related to her own children! As a merged twin she had eggs from both embryos, so the ones that got fertilized were actually from the other twin. Nitpick, She’d be related like an aunt rather than a mother (or at least a “half” aunt if, to compound the improbable, the merged twins she was just happened to have been fathered by different men.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/28 "2011-06-07T17:27:44Z")
The “absorbed twin” thing happens a lot more frequently than anyone would think. I don’t recall the %, but it’s non-trivial. As for the OP, I’ve never heard of this. Are mirror image twins always different handed?, though? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/29 "2011-06-07T17:39:19Z")
It’s a **zombie** twin, people! A **Zombie** twin!! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/30 "2011-06-07T17:39:57Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Is it true that most left-handed people were once part of a pair of mirror-image twins, and, while still in the womb, they somehow managed to absorb the proteins contained in their right-handed twin until there was nothing left of them? > > Thanks. No. It is not true. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/31 "2011-06-07T17:40:19Z")
> [@OxfordStan](#): > > This is not a proven theory, nor is it possible to prove. The theory itself however is known as the ‘vansihing twin theory’. That’s the name I’ve heard this theory go under too. I’m surprised so few of you have ever heard of it - the OP is not asking some off-the-wall question. I think I might have originally read about in New Scientist, but any internet links to that article seem to have … vanished. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/32 "2011-06-07T17:45:47Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > That’s the name I’ve heard this theory go under too. I’m surprised so few of you have ever heard of it - the OP is not asking some off-the-wall question. I think I might have originally read about in New Scientist, but any internet links to that article seem to have … vanished. :eek: Vanishing twin theory I’ve heard of. As an explanation for most left-handed twins- that is off the wall. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/33 "2011-06-07T17:55:44Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Vanishing twin theory I’ve heard of. As an explanation for most left-handed twins- that is off the wall. But it’s part of vanishing twin theory, and it does have a lot of logic behind it. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/34 "2011-06-07T18:43:22Z")
> [@Bumbazine](#): > > - Burp \* You’re left-handed, aren’t you! Darn cannibals!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/35 "2011-06-08T00:28:50Z")
I don’t know if lefties are surviving twin-eaters, but I do know left-handed zombies eat right-handers’ brainzzzzzzz.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/36 "2011-06-08T00:44:33Z")
All right, this has gone on long enough. I just can’t live with the lie anymore. Yes, I absorbed my right-handed twin. And he was delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/37 "2011-06-08T20:00:04Z")
left hander here. can i just say… EW!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/38 "2011-06-08T20:21:01Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s a **zombie** twin, people! A **Zombie** twin!! So… I’m the evil twin…I killed my twin…AND I’m a Zombie? Cool ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/39 "2011-06-08T20:30:12Z")
I don’t expect that that is true, though I love the idea. There is such a thing as mirror image identical twins though, and they are generally opposite handed. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607/40 "2011-06-08T20:32:26Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > That’s the name I’ve heard this theory go under too. I’m surprised so few of you have ever heard of it - the OP is not asking some off-the-wall question. It’s possible that the theory has become more widely known in the seven years since the question was asked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-left-handed-people-absorb-their-right-handed-twins/239607.md?page=1)