Identical twins raised separately Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein are identical twins who were given up for adoption and raised in separate families. Not until adulthood did they even realize they had a twin sibling. When they met, they discovered surprising similarities; for example, both Ms. Bernstein and Ms. Schien were editors of their high school newspapers and studied film in graduate school. Yet they also differed as a result of their life experiences. Ms. Schein, who had experienced the loss of close relatives including her adoptive mother, writes that “despite all the twin studies, which point to genetics, I realize how my environment has required me to develop a shell of resilience. Circumstances have spared Paula from death, and I can’t imagine her confronting this tragedy [a recent death in the family]” (Schein & Bernstein, 2007, p. 216).