The Sinister Secret Behind the Reunion of Identical Triplets
The story of brothers Bobby, Eddie, and David seems too unreal to even believe. The world was astounded to learn about the reunion of two identical twin boys, and you can only imagine how astonishing it was when a third came out of the woodwork! These charismatic triplets took the media by storm, everyone wanted to learn all about these identical siblings who met by accident. Their parents, on the other hand, were questioning why they were never told their adopted sons were part of a set of three. Clearly, something shady had been going on in the adoption agency.
The fantasy story ended up taking a dark turn that no one could’ve predicted, and it would change the brothers’ lives forever.
An Unusual First Day at College
Our story opens with 19-year-old Bobby Shafran starting his first day of community college. Most of us wonder whether or not we’ll fit in when starting school, but not Bobby. The moment he set foot on campus people seemed to instantly recognize him. Guys were coming up to him and clapping him on the back, and girls were openly flirting with him!
One girl even ran up and kissed him! As you can probably imagine, Bobby was totally baffled by this treatment, all these people acted as if they knew him even though he was new. Anyone in that situation would suspect some kind of prank, but that wasn’t the case. This whirlwind came to an end when he was approached by one Michael Dominitz.
“You Have a Twin Brother!”
Dominitz was dumbstruck as he stared at Bobby. He hadn’t expected his friend to be returning to college that year. But then the unimaginable hit him, perhaps this wasn’t his friend at all! He started to pelt Bobby with questions. He asked whether he was adopted, Bobby said yes. He asked for his birthdate, Bobby answered.
July 12, 1961, the same day as Dominitz’s adopted friend Eddie. He was freaking out, leaving Bobby bewildered by the whole situation. Eventually, Dominitz calmed down enough to tell Bobby what he had already figured out. “You’re not going to believe this,” he said, “you have a twin brother!”. Bobby couldn’t believe it, he had to get on the phone with Eddie and find out for himself.
The Pieces Fall Into Place
The two boys squeezed into a phone booth, Dominitz fumbling with the phone as he frantically tried to dial Eddie’s home number. The phone dials and eventually someone picks up on the other end, Bobby can hear the voice on the other end of the phone and he can’t believe it. The person on the other line had his voice.
He grabbed the phone from Dominitz and began to exchange information with his identical twin. The two of them might’ve been skeptical at first but there was no denying the truth. Finally, the puzzle pieces were falling to place for Bobby, clearly, all his new “friends” had thought he was his popular and charismatic brother. They decided they had to reunite right then and there.
Racing Down to the Reunion
After the boys had confirmed that they had been born on the same date, and adopted from the same agency, they knew they had been separated at birth. It was going to take some time to get to him, Eddie didn’t exactly live close to campus. Dominitz and Bobby jumped into Bobby’s car and began racing down the road, they simply couldn’t wait.
In fact, they were driving so fast that they ended up getting pulled over by a cop! Bobby attempted to explain what was going on, but who on Earth would believe such a story? The cop ended up letting them go with a warning. And just like that Bobby was on his way to meet a stranger who looked and sounded exactly like him.
Like Looking Into a Mirror
They arrived at Eddie’s house filled with anticipation. But the moment Bobby laid eyes on Eddie he knew this was the real thing. It was as if they were looking into a mirror, they even talked and moved the same way! The brothers were freaking out as they told each other about their lives, they were completely caught up in the moment.
Eventually, they realized that their reunion would make an incredible news story, and what teenage boy wouldn’t want to end up on the front page? There was no way a newspaper could resist a story like theirs, the only problem would be convincing someone over the phone! They had no idea what media circus they’d start by sharing their story.
They Thought it Was a Hoax
The story ended up reaching Howard Schneider, a worker at Newsday. At first, he believed the story was a hoax, and wouldn’t anyone think the same thing? He refused to run the story until he was able to have someone confirm the information in person. A Newsday reporter was put on a plane to fly out and meet the brothers.
Obviously, the story ended up being true, and the boys ended up prominently displayed in the newspaper. It was an incredible story that people couldn’t wait to read all about. The story was available to the public and it ended up catching a certain someone’s attention, someone who also looked exactly like the two brothers…
A Third Brother Comes Forward
A friend of David Kellman caught the story in the Newspaper and couldn’t believe the resemblance the brothers had to his buddy. It was actually the boys’ hands that astonished him the most, they were big and beefy just liked David’s. It was at that point that he shared the paper with his friend, and you can only imagine his reaction.
David stared at the front-page photo, essentially seeing two copies of himself talking to each other. Could he be the third identical sibling? The story of twins separated at birth was incredible on its own, but the existence of a third brother seemed to be beyond the realm of believability. Still, David thought he had to contact Eddie’s mother and tell her about himself.
The Media Was Going to Go Crazy
David rang up Eddie’s mother and stated that he was also born July 12, 1961, and that he had been adopted by the same agency as the other brothers. He heard the phone drop, no doubt out of shock! The story was described as “miraculous” by a family member. None of the parents could believe their eyes once the three brothers finally met.
The three of them looked from one brother to another, hardly comprehending what was going on. Despite the fact they had all just met it felt as though they knew each other all their lives. The situation was more than surreal, and you can bet the media was about to have a field day with this new addition to the story.
The Public Could Hardly Believe it
The world had never seen something so incredible, people wanted to read and watch everything they could about the three identical brothers. The boys found themselves being interviewed on every talk show you could think of. TV show hosts would occasionally confuse them, and the brothers were eager to play along with the pranks.
Their photographs ended up in every magazine, People, Time, The New York Times, even Good Housekeeping! Viewers were astounded by how similar they behaved, despite the fact they had grown up in completely different households. It seemed that they had so much in common even though they grew up with different families in different cities with different socio-economic backgrounds.
They Had a Scary Amount in Common
Interviewers probed the boys with questions, trying to find out exactly how similar they all were. They discovered that they all participated in their middle school wrestling team, smoked the same brand of cigarette, like the same colors, even went after the same type of woman! That coupled with their identical appearances made them seem like complete copies.
They even sat the same way during their TV interviews. It was clear that they had captured the public’s attention, and they were on their way to being launched into stardom. There wasn’t a single person around that didn’t know about these triplets, and they were going to use their fame to their advantage.
Making it to The Silver Screen
The boys truly became bonafide celebrities, with reporters and photographers following their every move. The brothers loved the attention and were happy to pose for pictures. It got to a point where their mothers would find out where they had been by reading the newspaper! But their fame didn’t end with the papers, they ended up making it on the silver screen.
One day a woman approached them screaming, “Guys! Guys! You’re the guys!”, it was none other than Madonna herself. She didn’t need to beg the boys to make an appearance in her upcoming film, the three brothers gladly agreed! They ended up being written into the script of the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan.
The Triplets Restaurant
They were living their lives as closely as anyone could. The three of them rented an apartment together and eventually decided to open up a business, a restaurant that was fittingly named “Triplets”. In New York, new restaurants can have a short lifespan, but the brothers’ fame managed to ensure their success. People were eager to see the three of them in person.
And they knew how to keep a party going. Bobby described the restaurant as a “Bar Mitzvah” every night of the week. The SoHo establishment was wildly successful in its first year, earning over one million dollars! This achievement is basically unprecedented for a new restaurant. Everything was looking up for the boys, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
What Lurked Under the Surface
The triplets seemed to be living the perfect lives. The three of them had begun to get married and start their own families. They were running an extremely profitable family business that made them all happy. But something was lurking under the surface of all their happiness, and that was the question of their separation.
While the story ended up making them a media sensation they still wanted answers. It was unusual that triplets would’ve been secretly separated by Louise Wise Services, an adoption agency that prided itself on giving adoptive parents full disclosure regarding their children. But this information had been withheld from both the boys and all their parents.
None of the Parents Knew the Truth
The parents of each brother were understandably outraged by the fact this information had been kept from them. Not one of them had known they were adopting a triplet who was being separated from their two brothers. In fact, each of the boys suffered symptoms of separation anxiety as infants as a result of being split up.
They wanted answers from Louise Wise Services, and they were going to get them. The three sets of parents decided to approach the heads of the agency and demand an explanation. They wanted to know how such a crucial detail could be kept from them. But getting a real answer wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought.
They Were Hiding Something
At first, it seemed that the heads of Louise Wise were ready to come clean about the triplets. When they sat down with the parents they outright admitted they had separated the three brothers during infancy. They claimed that it would’ve been too difficult to find a single home for all three brothers and that they had acted in the boys’ best interest.
David’s father wasn’t buying their explanation. In a fit of rage, he retorted that he would’ve adopted all three boys rather than having them split up. All the parents felt they were being sold a story, and their instincts ended up being correct. Something was fishy and Bobby’s father was the one who discovered it.
They Were Toasting Each Other
The meeting had ended and the parents left unsatisfied and disheartened. They felt that Louise Wise Services was still keeping secrets from them, but there was nothing left that they could do at that point. Once the parents had left the building, Bobby’s father realized he left his umbrella in the meeting room. When he went back to retrieve it he stumbled upon a horrible sight.
The heads of Louise Wise were sitting in the meeting room and cracking open a bottle of champagne. It appeared that they were toasting each other as if they were celebrating the fact that they didn’t need to tell the parents the truth. This was a clear red flag for the parents, and the investigation was far from over.
A Journalist Discovers the Study
Louise Wise Services wasn’t going to give up what they knew, but someone ended up uncovering the truth accidentally. A journalist by the name of Lawrence Wright was in the middle of a story about identical twins who were raised separately. During his research, he uncovered an obscure article that referenced a secret study in which identical twins and triplets were forcibly separated.
This information had shocked him. Babies being forcibly separated for an experiment? This was highly unethical. He read as much as he could about the study, but there wasn’t much information there. One detail did catch his attention, the agency the babies were all from; Louise Wise Services.
“Studied Us Like Lab Rats”
Bobby, Eddie, and David had all grown up not knowing they lived within 100 miles of each other. Their parents were also totally unaware that their boys were part of a set of triplets. But some people knew full well what was going on; the researchers behind the study. “These people split us up and studied us like lab rats,” Bobby said in a documentary interview.
Once this information began to surface the triplets began to recall the researchers who had visited them during childhood. Up until the age of 10, they had people come to their homes and ask them questions, study their behavior, and give them tests. All of these sessions were recorded on video.
The Researchers Lied
You would think this would set off alarm bells for the parents, but they were given a plausible excuse to keep them in the dark. Each set of parents were told that their children would be part of a regular study on the development of adopted children. This, of course, was an outright life. The parents were never told their boys had been split up.
But the researchers conducting these tests knew the truth all along. For years they would go from house to house, seeing each of the boys and being the only ones who knew the truth. The study was conducted under one very prominent psychiatrist; Dr. Peter Neubauer. He was the mind behind the scenes.
Who Was Dr. Peter Neubauer?
Dr. Peter Neubauer was an Austrian-born child psychiatrist who practiced primarily in New York. Neubauer was particularly interested in the development of children and was curious as to whether nature or nurture plays a bigger role in a child’s early years. It was this question that likely led to him starting this experiment, working alongside Louise Wise Services.
The doctor studied under the daughter of Sigmund Freid, Anna Freud. For years he was known as a respectable figure in the world of child psychology and served as the director of the Child Development Center of the Jewish Board of Family. Discovering that he was the person behind this inhumane study was disturbing news, to say the least.
The Truth Reaches the Public
It was under Neubauer’s direction that the Louise Wise Agency separated the identical siblings. They worked alongside a team of scientists to separate the children, this went on for years. The triplets were far from being the only children affected by this study. Once Lawrence Wright published his article that cited the unethical study another set of siblings found each other.
Identical twin sisters by the names of Paula and Elyse ended up discovering each other due to the discovery of the study. The truth had been uncovered but there were still many questions to be answered. How could anyone have let this study go on for so long? Why was it being kept secret? And most of all, what effect did it have on all the separated siblings?
They Kept Their Results a Secret
You would expect a study that was conducted on such a large scale to publish their findings. But this experiment was highly unusual, as there was very little information available to the public. The triplets were determined to get every detail involved in the study, after all it had exploited their lives in the name of research.
They hired an attorney in the effort to retrieve some results but were unfortunately unsuccessful. The researchers were adamant about withholding all information. They refused to give up the purpose of the study or their findings. This angered and baffled everyone affected by the experiment. And they weren’t going to give up without a fight.
Neubauer’s Assistant Speaks Up
Neubauer’s research assistant actually came forward with some interesting insight on the doctor’s motivation for the experiment. She claims that he wanted to make a positive impact on children’s lives by putting an end to the “nature vs nurture” debate. He believed the best way to do so would be to separate identical siblings and observe them as they grew up in different environments.
Though she admits people might view the experiment as unethical, she says the 60s were a different time when these concerns wouldn’t have been raised. She emphasizes that there was no ill intent behind the study, that it didn’t want to cause any negative impact on the children. But intentions aren’t everything, and the experiment proved to be detrimental to one of the brothers.
Things Began to Worsen
The boys and their families understandably believed the study was totally unjustifiable, no matter how important the researchers may have felt it was. The boys’ discovery that their lives were essentially orchestrated for the sake of an experiment had a negative effect on their mental health. This was worsened by the passing of David’s father, who served as the peacemaker between the three brothers.
The situation was aggravated further by the restaurant. Turns out going into business with your brothers can strain your relationship, something the three of them hadn’t anticipated. The boys had not grown up together and as a result, never learned how to resolve conflicts or compromise, this would prove to be a major weakness for them.
Eddie Was Taking Things Hard
Eventually, the tension was too much for Bobby, he needed to take a step back for his own sake. He made the difficult decision to leave his brother’s business. This had a heavy impact on his brother Eddie, who had always wanted his family and brothers to get along. He couldn’t bear the idea of Bobby going his separate way.
This may have been the breaking point along with all the other issues they were facing. And Eddie took all the difficulties much harder than his brothers. He had always been the most outgoing of the three, but behind his charming demeanor lay some emotional issues. These would begin to show themselves during that difficult time.
Eddie Wasn’t Handling Things Well
Eddie’s behavior was beginning to grow more erratic and unstable. He was prone to making random early-morning calls to people he hadn’t spoken to in years, and his angry outbursts were becoming more frequent. It was clear he was struggling with both depression and bipolar disorder. His wife and family knew he needed help.
Eddie ended up being hospitalized in psychiatric care for three weeks, but this ultimately didn’t have much of an effect. He was clearly going through an extremely painful time, but no one would’ve expected things would end the way they did. The brothers were about to face a devastating loss that would leave a hole in their lives.
A Horrific Discovery
David and Eddie were left behind to run the restaurant after Bobby’s departure. David had always managed the behind-the-scenes tasks, primarily working in the kitchen. Eddie’s job was to work at the front of the restaurant, but one day he simply did not show up for work. This was uncharacteristic of him, and David called on a friend to check whether Eddie’s car was parked at home.
Upon discovering that Eddie had not driven anywhere that day the worst was to be expected. David had the misfortune of discovering Eddie after he committed suicide. He kept Eddie’s parents away from the scene, he didn’t want them to have to see that horrific scene.
Other Siblings Had Also Committed Suicide
Whether the experiment was a factor in Eddie’s decision to take his life is unclear, but it certainly did not help to have been separated from his brothers at birth. The signs of distress were apparent from infancy, but the researchers continued to carry on with their project. David and Bobby are the two triplets that remain, never knowing the full story behind the experiment. Though they did discover that Eddie’s case wasn’t exceptional.
In fact, they learned that there was more than one suicide among the individuals who were studied in the experiment. David believes that this cannot be a coincidence. However, there is a small silver lining to the end of this ultimately tragic tale.
A Small Silver Lining
As you now know, the researchers who studied the identical siblings carried on for decades without revealing the truth. Once they were caught they wanted to hide all information from those involved, as well as keep the details from getting out to the public. The reason for this is still unknown, but the siblings and their families did manage to see some justice.
In 2020 the researchers relented and agreed to disclose the information only to those studied in the experiment. This was likely due to the story resurfacing in the Netflix documentary Three Identical Strangers. The public, however, will have to wait as all information will be locked until the year 2065
What Do You Think?
The story of Bobby Shafran, Eddie Galland, and David Kellman is truly an incredible one. But once you get past the miraculous story of the triplets meeting you realize the dark truth behind it all. These boys might’ve had very different lives had they not been separated at birth. But we want to hear your thoughts on this unbelievable tale.
Was Dr. Peter Neubauer’s experiment truly unethical, and did it ultimately have a negative effect on the lives of all the identical siblings involved? And finally, does nature or nurture play a bigger role in the people we end up becoming? The triplets’ story leaves us all with a lot to think about. Tell us what you think in the comments below.