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Twins have long been a source of curiosity the world over. Non twins are fascinated by the fact that there are two infants/chi ldren/adults who look alike. They project all kinds of beliefs (consciously or unconsciously) onto the twin pair e.g. that twins are best friends, and like one another. Twins have the 'perfect' relationship projected on to them, and this study wanted to look at how twins themselves experience being life long objects of intense curiosity, and to find out whether or not twins are as close to one another as non twins imagine, and want them to be. Analysing internet conversations between twins created the question: "Why do some twins like one another, and others do not?". Analysis of interviews with twins showed that negative feelings were more prevalent for twins who claimed to have experienced bad parenting. Psychodynamic theory is used to explore how twins' early development differs from development of a single infa nt. Development of a senseof self and agency is clearly going to be different when there are two infants of the same developmental age. Twins have to separate from their twin as well as their caregiver and therefore face unique separation issues.

This thesis examines twins' negotiations of identity across the lifecourse. Split into two main parts - structuring contexts and agency contexts - it draws upon Jenkins' theory of social identity to examine the interplay between structure and agency as identities are constructed and reconstructed across the lifecourse. Importantly, reflecting current theorising within the sociology of childhood, it illustrates how children can and should be considered to be competent social actors. Even though children have their childhoods structured for them by their parents, children take an active role in shaping their own and each other's childhoods. The body, space and talk provide three important resources for helping twins to variously play up and play down their identities as twins. Discursively constructed as both a concentrated version of siblingship and an intensification of the symbol of the child, twinship is something that children are expected to (in the main) grow out of. Leaving behind the sameness and togetherness they once shared as children are vital signifiers that they are 'growing up' successfully. However this thesis shows that although, on the one hand, children are often keen to show that they are following this normative timetable, on the other hand, it is evident that they do not simply move from being twins to being adults but rather may try to take up and exit their identities as twins in different situations and with varying degrees of success. Identity then is always in process, moving between various possibilities and emerging from social interaction between embodied actors.

L’objectif principal de cette recherche est de comprendre la place de la vie intra utérine dans le cas de la gémellité compliquée d’un syndrome transfuseur-transfusé (STT). Le second objectif concerne la singularité du deuil périnatal d’un jumeau et son devenir pour les parents et pour le jumeau vivant. Une méthodologie a été construite afin de mettre en perspective le vécu de la grossesse à travers le discours des parents (entretien semi-directif de recherche) et le développement psychique de l’enfant à 6 ans, à travers le bilan psychologique (WISC IV, dessin du bonhomme, dessin de la famille et CAT). Le recueil des données s’est fait à partir de 60 familles. Au sein de cette population, une analyse singulière a été faite à partir du matériel recueilli pour 10 enfants du groupe jumeaux et 10 enfants du groupe singletons. Une analyse transversale a été effectuée pour chacun des groupes et pour la totalité de la population. Mes résultats montrent que l’on retrouve chez l’enfant des traces agissantes d’inscriptions traumatiques pré-psychiques. Au WISC IV, les résultats indiquent que 73% des enfants ont un QI total dans la moyenne. Il existe un état de sidération des processus de pensée et un faible investissement dans les apprentissages. Au CAT, on observe des défenses narcissiques liées à une difficulté de l’élaboration de la position dépressive ainsi qu’une inhibition importante. La confusion et l’indifférenciation des espaces psychiques sont présentes. Dans le dessin de la famille et le CAT, les processus d’identifications se retrouvent d’un jumeau vers l’autre-jumeau, aboutissant à des limites du moi aux contours mal définis. Les identifications aux imagos parentales apparaissent comme secondaires. Cette recherche a montré que la présence du STT contient une potentialité traumatique dans les chaines générationnelles parents/enfants qui s’organise en trois temps. La relation d’objet gémellaire a été décrite comme « le nid prénatal » des relations objectales ultérieures, formées par le trio et le quartet. Ce type de relation inaugure une triadification primaire. Le complexe gémellaire a été décrit selon trois versants : archaïque, oedipianisé et selon l’effet du couple dans la gémellité. Pour les parents qui ont perdu un jumeau durant la grossesse, la perte d’un fœtus jumeau peut devenir un objet de survivance, liée au fonctionnement psychique des parents et au statut du fœtus-jumeau. Chez l’enfant, la place qu’occupe le jumeau décédé pour le vivant est fonction de l’élaboration du deuil des parents. La perte du jumeau peut devenir un objet de survivance, compte tenu de la nature narcissique et pré objectale de la gémellité. Le syndrome du survivant peut se retrouver chez l’enfant. / This thesis explores the phenomenon of twins who develop Twin to twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), and the subsequent metaphyschological effects on both the perinatal and future development of children. The objective of this research is to understand intrauterine life using the context of afterward. Therefore, this research is focused on the link between parents’ experiences of afterward during their pregnancy, and the physical development of 6 year old twins. The second objective of this research concerns the perinatal death of one twin and how life develops in the future for the parents and for the living twin. The methods used are the psychoanalytic and the test method, in a psychodynamic approach. The tools used are the semi-direct research interview and the psychological evaluation of the child. (WISC IV, the drawing of man, the drawing of family and the projective test of the CAT). The collection of data is conducted with more than 60 families who have 6 year old children. At the heart of the population, a single analysis was made from material received for 10 children from a group of twins and 10 single children. A cross sectional analysis was done for each group and for the total of the population. My results show that we can find traces of registered pre-psychic trauma. From the WISC IV test, the results indicate that 73% of children have an average IQ. There is a state of paralysis in thought processes, and little interest in learning. The CAT showed narcissistic defenses related to difficulty in developing the depressive position, as well as significant inhibition. Confusion and lack of differentiation of psychic spaces are present. In the drawing of the family and in the CAT, the identification of one twin with the other twin can be found, resulting in poorly defined boundaries of self. Identification with parental images appears to be secondary. The presence of TTTS has the potential to cause trauma through the generational chain of parent/ child that is organised in three stages. Twin object relations have been described as “the prenatal nest” of subsequent object relations, formed by the trio and the quartet. This type of relationship introduces a primary triadification. Three aspects of the twin complex have been described: archaic, oedipianized and according to the effect of the couple in the twinning. For those parents who have lost a twin during pregnancy, the loss of a twin foetus can become an object of survival, or an object of trauma, linked to the psychic functioning of the parents and the status of the twin foetus. The place the living twin takes, in place of the dead twin, is dependent on the grieving process of the parents. Based on this, the loss of a twin can become an object of survival, taking into account the narcissistic and pre objectal nature of the twinning. Survival Syndrome can be found in children.