WombTwin

Conference 2012 - special deals!

2012-01-17T08:54:00.002Z

At a meeting last night it was settled. At our conference in London there will be special deals to make this event more accessible.

1. Early bird booking (saving of 23%)

3. Twin booking - bring one other person and book them in at the same time as you, and one of you you saves 50%!

4. Special deal for people representing a non-profit organisation or charity:

Free inclusion of one leaflet into each of the delegates' conference packs
23% discount on all bookings.

5. Two supported places at £25 per head for students or unwaged : contact us for details now!

6. Multiple booking - book three or motre peple in at the same time and save 23%

Register now to be kept informed of developments.

Join Womb Twin today and save on your conference bookings!

Annual conference 2011

2011-11-23T09:37:00.001Z

On Saturday November 19th we held our fourth annual conference. Without doubt it was the best yet!

We learned about the Womb Twin research project from Dr Victoria Bourne of StatsArt, which is beginning to clarify the psychological profile of womb twin survivors.
We heard about womb twin healing work being carried out in Spain by Claudia Cortes and Peter Bourquin.
We heard personal stories by three womb twin survivors, which illustrated the great variety of experience that womb twin survivors have, while sharing the same kind of pre-birth loss.
From Monica Hudson of Twindividual.com we learned more about making symbols to represent the lost twins or mutiples, and ways to carry out rituals of letting go.
Meanwhile, small selected groups attended:
An art therapy workshop with Paula Short
A drama therapy workshop with Claire Schrader of Making Moves
A Womb Twin healing path ritual, facilitated by Olga Waters.

Read more about the day and the presenters here.

If you would like to be kept informed of future conferences, please complete the form on this page.

Where you there? Would you have liked to be there? Please feel free to comment.

New for Christmas! An ecard display set

2011-11-18T08:19:00.001Z

We have a new fundraising idea - a way to display the emails you get for Christmas that remain on your computer and are not displayed, simply because they are too cumbersome to print out and put up somewhere for everyone to see, alongside all the other Christmas cards.

But we have the answer! An e-card display set!

We have made a set of golden cards and colourful stickers that are easy to assemble into a display, which that will hang on the wall with your other Christmas cards, showing the names of everyone who remembered you at Christmas.

All proceeds will go to our Womb Twin Fund, so do take a look at this page and learn more.

These sets are not available anywhere else, the idea is completely new.

Be the first to astonish your friends with a our set of golden cards and little pegs, all held together in a neat clear plastic wallet, enough for three Christmases and only £3.50!

ORDER YOURS TODAY!

We now have 103 Womb Twin associates!

2011-10-20T15:55:00.000+01:00

The wonderful news is that a complimentary Womb Twin tee-shirt went to Tony in Ireland. He is our 100th Womb Twin associate, and three more joined us last week!

To be only five years old and have more than 100 associates, is a tribute to the amazing amount of support we receive from womb twin survivors around the world. It is very encouraging when times are hard to know that so many people are out there gunning for us.

We would like to have 200 Womb Twin associates by the end of next year. Will we make it? Only time will tell.....

Have you joined us yet? It's free of charge, no catches, and it's a great way to show your personal support for our work. (And we don't sell or hire email lists, so your data is safe with us.)

Here are some of the reaons why some people say they joined us as Womb Twin associates:

Because I meet so many of the criteria to have been a womb twin survivor and am looking for ways to improve my life
I believe I am a womb twin survivor - possibly a chimera. I'm hoping to connect with others who may have had similar life experiences to me to help process what I've been through and heal. I also want to be a support to others.
I lost my twin in the womb and have never met anyone who can really relate.
I am a womb twin survivor and know I can relate to others who have dealt with this feeling. It hurts every single day that I lost my twin but I know I CAN help others

Do you feel this way too? Join us today.

Nearly one hundred associate members - join us today and win!

2011-09-17T11:31:00.001+01:00

Our associate members are a group of people from all over the world who have signed up to be associated with this project. There is no subscription, mainly because we do not have the facilities yet to manage an international membership, so our ever- increasing band of associates are our supporters around the world, and we value them very highly.

Join us as an associate today!

The next person to join us will be no 100!!

In celebration, we will give the next FOUR associates a free Womb Twin teeshirt.

So if you are not yet an associate, do come and join us in this celebration and wear your Womb Twin teeshirt with pride!

Conference 2011: press release out today!

2011-09-15T10:30:00.001+01:00

WOMB TWIN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: 19th November 2011

A highly unusual international conference will be held in St Albans in Hertfordshire on Saturday November 19th 2011. This will be the fourth annual conference for Womb Twin, a voluntary organisation dedicated to helping womb twin survivors around the world. They started life in the womb as a twin but their twin died during the pregnancy or around birth. All their lives, they carry a sense of something missing, of having been a twin.

The conference will be organised as a "twin" conference, in two separate but adjoining rooms, with a variety of presentations and workshops running in parallel throughout the day. The founder of Womb Twin, Althea Hayton is anxious for people to know how common it is for a twin to be lost before birth, leaving a single baby. "1 person in 10 is a womb twin survivor, but very few people know anything about this" says Althea. "Womb twin survivors are of all ages - babies, children, teenagers, young people, parents and grandparents like me - but no one believes them when they say they have always known that they once had a twin. This is a vital piece of personal information and every womb twin survivor should know that this is what they are."

When a womb twin survivor comes for therapy, this important piece of personal information may never be discussed by either party, because no one realises the significance of it. If it is mentioned, ideas about having once being a twin may be misdiagnosed as some kind of “personality disorder,” when in fact this is a perfectly normal reaction to a rather unusual prenatal experience. As a result, womb twin survivors are at great risk of misdiagnosis, because of the current lack of good quality medical information about this topic.

An increasing number of medical conditions, including cerebral palsy, congenital disorders, premature birth and metabolic disorders in later life, are now being connected to conditions in the womb. The loss of a twin, particularly a monozygotic (identical) twin, is being implicated in many of these.

"This is a new and very important topic that should be more widely known" says Althea Hayton, founder and Chairman of Womb Twin. "A local GP told me that he made a presentation about this at a conference some years ago, only to be greeted with some scorn by many of his colleagues. It should be different today, for we know much more about life in the womb. We now know how common the "vanishing twin" pregnancies are, and that the sole survivor experiences a profound psychological effect."

"We will continue to hold a conference every year, with expert presenters from various countries of the world, until the world learns to listen to our story. This is a world-wide phenomenon, too prevalent and important to be ignored. "

Details and bookings here

Womb Twin Kids Movie uploaded today!

2011-08-19T10:05:00.002+01:00

Take a look at our new movie about the Womb Twin Kids project...

Full details of the Womb Twin Kids project, started in St Albans, England in 2011. As far as we know, this is the first project of its kind anywhere in the world.
* How to talk to your child about their twin
* Introducing twin teddies
* Womb Twin Kids groups
* Books for parents and children
* Contact details and web sites to learn more

The main web site is here.

Our patron, William Bingley, has died

2011-08-11T08:07:00.000+01:00

I have been told that William Bingley, who has been our patron since 2009 has died. He was out walking on Sunday 31st July and fell into a gulley, sustaining fatal head injuries. More details on the BBC web site here.

We will miss his kind and supportive presence. A note of sympathy has been sent to his family on behalf of all our members.

William Bingley is a lawyer by training with a special interest in the law relating to health especially mental health, human rights and equality and diversity. He was Legal Director of Mind (1983 -1989), Chief Executive of the Mental Health Act Commission (1990 -2000) and Professor of Mental Health Law and Ethics at the University of Central Lancashire (2000 – 2004). He is Chairman of a NHS Primary Care Trust in the North West.

He was a member of the Expert Committee appointed by the Government to undertake the initial review of the Mental Health Act and which reported in 1999.

He was also member of Guidelines Development Group developing NICE guidelines for the management of disturbed (violent) behaviour in psychiatric in-patient units and published in 2005. He is a director of Bingley Consulting Ltd which provides advice and support to a range of public authorities about strategic change. He is Chief Executive (unpaid) of the Abaseen Foundation, a UK registered charity developing healthcare and education in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan and he is a trustee of Mind in Furness.

"A Healing Path for Womb Twin Survivors" - now a Womb Twin Book!

2011-07-28T09:53:00.003+01:00

The ebook, A Healing path for Womb Twin survivors, written by Althea Hayton, was published by Wren Publications in 2006.

This series of 30 steps to healing has helped hundreds of womb twin survivors on their healing journey since then.

Althea Hayton has donated the proceeds for the sale of this book from this time onward, to Womb Twin.

Read an extract here.

In memory of your womb twin

2011-07-21T09:46:00.000+01:00

A message from Althea:

"When you have reached the point in your healing path where its time for your womb twin to be laid to rest and for you to begin your new life, awakened from your Dream of the Womb, a memorial can help. It's hard to know exactly how to make a memorial and I think the Womb Twin Memorial site is a helpful idea. Do try it."

To place a memorial on our web site, all you have to do is to choose a special image for your memorial, decide of the words, and make a small donation to the Womb Twin Fund. Your memorial will remain there for as long as you wish.

Visit the Womb Twin Memorial Site today.

Happy 4th Birthday, Womb Twin!

2011-07-17T09:07:00.015+01:00

It is exactly four years today since Womb Twin was founded.

In the first year 2007/8 we had three directors and we finally managed to create a bank account! We held an information day in London and Althea gave her first Powerpoint presentation showing all the various ways in which a twin may be lost before birth. Thirteen people came, one from Belgium!

In 2008 we held our first conference in London with three speakers and three womb twin survivors to tell their story. Twenty-eight people came.They said they wanted more time to get to know each other, why not a whole weekend, they asked?

In 2009 we held our first Open Space weekend conference, in a school in Althea's home town of St Albans, which is within easy reach of London and Luton Airport. 40 people came on the Friday to the open meeting and 16 stayed for the whole weekend.

In 2010 we had this blog, all of your own. We held our second Open Space conference in a Pastoral Centre in St Albans, where everyone could stay and be together for the whole weekend. This was a smaller group but an intense experience. The attendees were divided about whether they wanted workshops or presentations. After a long discussion is seemed possible next time to have both, running alongside.

In 2011 the conference will be at the same venue, but one day only, not a whole weekend. There will be workshops and presentations running in parallel. We hope that we have found a formula that works well. It has taken several years, but we have learned a lot. Coming?

Register today, pay later to confirm your place.

Please add your good wishes to this blog on our FOURTH BIRTHDAY!

The new Womb Twin Fund

2011-07-10T09:37:00.005+01:00

This month marks the start of the new Womb Twin Fund. We want to raise £500 by the end of this year to spring-board us into 2012 with all flags flying. We are only a little company and have very small reserves at the moment. We need money for the Womb Twin Kids Project and to bring in a professional speaker for the 2012 conference in London. We have made a start: would you like to add a little more?

If you have found this project to be life-enhancing and helpful, perhaps you would like to make a small donation today? Thank you!

Provided byFundraising Ideas Center

Follow our progress as the Womb twin Fund grows!

Make a donation now!

"Vanishing" twins - Important new findings announced at ESHRE conference July 6th 2011

2011-07-06T09:26:00.002+01:00

Epidemiological studies on vanishing twins and consequences for the surviving singletons

A. Pinborg Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, The Fertility Clinic 4U71, Copenhagen, Denmark

Introduction: Recently, it has become evident that IVF singletons do worse than their naturally conceived counterparts. A possible cause is an increased number of spontaneous reductions (vanishing twin) as a consequence of the dual embryo transfer policy. We investigated incidence rates of spontaneous reductions in IVF/ICSI pregnancies and compared short- and long-term outcome including obstetric data, malformations, neonatal intensive care unit admissions, neurological sequelae and mortality in singleton survivors of a vanishing co-twin with IVF/ICSI singletons and twins from pregnancies without spontaneous reduction.

Materials and methods: A total of 9557 IVF/ICSI children were eligible; 642 survivors of a vanishing co-twin, 5237 singleton from single gestations and 3678 twins from twin gestations originating from clinical pregnancies detected by transvaginal sonography in gestational week eight. Data on obstetric outcome and neurological sequelae were obtained by cross-linkage with the national registnes. The main endpoints were prematurity, birth weight, neurological sequelae and mortality.

Results: Of all IVF singletons born, 10.4% originated from a twin gestation in early pregnancy. Multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for maternal age, panty and ICSI treatment showed: for birth weight <2500g an OR 1.7 (95% CI 1.2-2.2) and forbirth weight <1500g OR was 2.1 (95% CI 1.3-3.6) in singleton survivors of a vanishing twin versus singletons from single gestations, corresponding figures were seen for preterm birth. We found no excess risk of neurological sequelae in survivors of a vanishing co-twin versus the singleton cohort, however OR of cerebral palsy was 1.9 (95% CI 0.7-5.2). Further we found a correlation between the time of onset of spontaneous reduction i.e. the later in pregnancy, the higher the risk of neurological sequelae (r= - 0.09, P=0.02). The risk of child death within the follow-up period was OR 3.4 (95% CI 1.6 7.2) in the survivor versus the singleton cohort.

Conclusions: One in ten IVF singletons origins from a twin gestation. This is one of the major causes for the higher risk of adverse obstetric outcome in IVF singletons.

In other words, the loss of a twin before birth does have a physical consequence for the sole survivor. The psychological consequences however, are a matter for another conference, another time - our conference in fact! [Download 2011 Womb Twin conference brochure]

A Silent Cry: now a Womb Twin book!

2011-07-02T15:58:00.000+01:00

In 2008 Althea Hayton collected and edited a collection of seventy stories that she had received from womb twin survivors all over the world, under the title of "A Silent Cry".

It was announced today that from this day forward all proceeds from sales of this book will be donated to Womb Twin.

A new forum for parents with young womb twin survivors

2011-06-27T18:27:00.002+01:00

It can be hard bringing up a womb twin survivor, and parents need support and good quality information,

The new Womb Twin Kids Web site provides details of resources, ideas games and stories, and the Parents of Survivors group provides support, so if you are the parent of a womb twin survivor, join today!

The London Womb Twin Lunch Saturday July 2nd

2011-06-27T12:06:00.000+01:00

We will be meeting in London next Saturday July 2nd at the Wharf restaurant for lunch and a good chat.

A table is booked under the name of Mrs HAYTON.

Book your place using this form, (or text 07880 558877 if you make up your mind at the last minute!)

A new web site for parents with womb twin kids

2011-06-22T18:27:00.001+01:00

The Womb Twin Kids Project is now fully operational, thanks to support from Womb Twin.

www.wombtwinkids.co.uk

Here is our logo

There is a page for parents' stories - fancy sending your story to go on the web site?

The aim of this project is to provide support for parents of womb twin survivors and enable them to talk to their child about their twin in a positive and creative way.

New stories page for the web site

2011-06-18T10:42:00.001+01:00

We have made a new page for womb twin survivors to tell their stories. Since the publication of "A Silent Cry," which has 70 stories, we have received many others. They are now on a special page.

Here is one example:

I just found out that I was a twin. Apparently, I had a brother who died within days, possibly within hours of our birth. Somehow this is very shocking, but at the same time I almost feel vindicated. My sister thought I knew. My mother never told me. Still, I remember being told by my mother that I had a fantastic imagination when I would "make up stories" about having a brother (I have four living sisters). I also remember having a very special imaginary friend (about age three). I would cry hysterically when I thought we were leaving him behind somewhere.

READ THE STORIES HERE

A new publicity leaflet available

2011-06-09T12:02:00.001+01:00

With regard to the upcoming annual meeting of embryologists in Stockholm on July 6th, we contacted them and asked them if we may display some leaflets. They said we may, but when we looked at the literature we do have, nothing seemed appropriate. So we got busy and made one and printed out 40 or so to send and have on display at the event.

We thought you may like to see what it looks like, and maybe download one or more for your own use:

Download yours here (feel free to print as many as you like and hand them to anyone who may be interested. )

List of womb twin blogs gets longer!

2011-05-31T10:18:00.000+01:00

The blogs on this page show how far we have come.

If you want to find a place on the net where there are people who live in the same country as you and operate on the same time zone and in the same language, and there is no blog where you live, why not make one yourself? Try these:

BLOGGER

WALL. FM

Anyone know about making Australian, Canadian, French or Spanish blogs?
Anyone want to be an contributor to an existing blog?
Want advice or just talk about this? Just contact us today!

The lunch was lovely! London next!

2011-05-25T11:37:00.000+01:00

In Portsmouth I had a lovely lunch but no one else came. A pity, because it was a wonderful day by the sea.

The next lunch will be in London at the Wharf restaurant:

Three people booked already, so we will have more of a party! Do not hesitate to come and join us.

The booking form is here.

No charge, just buy lunch.

See you there!

Womb Twin Lunches, Portsmouth and London, England

2011-05-12T16:31:00.000+01:00

Just a reminder of two events (in England) coming up soon that we thought you may like to know about.

Portsmouth Saturday May 21st 12 noon. Informal lunch for womb twin survivors at the Slug and Lettuce Pub by the sea. We will go for a walk after lunch and enjoy the scenery. No charge, just buy lunch or a drink. Partners, friends and supporters welcomed.
[If you want to make up your mind at the last minute just turn up on the day and ask for "Mrs Haytons table". ]

London Saturday July 3rd 12 noon. Informal lunch for womb twin survivors at the Wharf restaurant on the South Bank of the Thames. Partners, friends and supporters welcomed.
[If you want to make up your mind at the last minute just turn up on the day and ask for "Mrs Haytons table". ]

Book your place here:

Gemini Voices for April out today

2011-04-05T17:23:00.001+01:00

Here is the latest version of the newsletter.
If you are not yet a subscriber, you can subscribe now using this form

Annual conference : a change of plan

2011-04-03T08:16:00.001+01:00

We have changed the format of the conference this year, in order to reduce the fees and make it more accessible to more people in these difficult times.

It will take place over one day, Saturday November 19th, and will be followed by a one-day workshop with Althea Hayton on Sunday 20th, which she is arranging privately as a separate venture.

We are finalising the plans. The full programme, brochure, fees and booking details will be available on the Womb twin web site very soon. Watch this space!

For more information, contact us.

Plans for the 2011 conference, November

2011-03-24T11:01:00.000Z

We are drawing up detailed plans for the conference, which will have a di-amniotic twin format, being in two adjoining rooms, one a bit smaller than the other!

Booking begins April 1st 2011. Be sure to book early, as spaces are limited. [More here]

If you would like to be reminded, please contact us and we will make sure a reminder email or printed brochure is sent to you on April 1st.

If you intend to come, would you like to tell your story in a special session devoted to womb twin stories? We need two more people, to tell some part of their story in about 10 minutes.

If you would like to help in any other way, there is still time to get involved, so please contact us as soon as possible. Here is the form for your convenience:

The monthly email newsletter

2011-03-14T09:03:00.002Z

Gemini Voices,our monthly email newsletter, comes courtesy of Mail Chimp and is delivered directly to your inbox, complete with images, links etc.

Here is the latest newsletter.

here

There is a nice subscription box on the main page of the web site.

Social meetings in England - March 5th- come to lunch and meet other womb twin survivors!

2011-02-09T07:47:00.000Z

We have a series of lunches arranged for this year in England: The first one is on March 5th.

21st December is Womb Twin day

2010-12-20T15:18:00.003Z

Womb twin day 2010 (21st December 2010)

A message from Althea Hayton

Greetings to all womb twin survivors around the world on Womb Twin day. I hope that this day can be special for you, whatever stage you are at along the healing path.

If you are just awakening to the possibility that you, or someone dear to you, is a womb twin survivor, then I wish you well on the journey you have just begun, for once you have awakened to the idea, it will not leave you alone until you have processed it completely. Your first step on the healing path has already been taken. (Free stuff here to get you started)

If you have just set out on the healing path - and maybe have the ebook as a guide - than I hope you will explore the links on the web site so you can know as much as possible about what can happen when a co twin dies. There are dozens of possible scenarios and only one applies to you, so keep on learning more.

If you have been on the healing path for a while but are losing impetus, remember that you may be resisting healing. Here is a little movie to spur you on.

If you are getting to the end of your healing path and its time to face the fact of your twins death by a funeral ritual or a ritual of remembrance, today may be a good day to do it. Chose earth first air or water as your element, and conduct a burial, a burning, or a release into the air or onto water. I have been an assistant at many rituals of this kind and mixed with the sadness is a lightness and joy - if that is your choice, do let me know how you got on.

Lastly, if you have conducted your ritual and have said goodbye to your twin, (perhaps more than one if you are the survivor of a multiple conception) it may be good to create a memorial. We have our new memorial site and we welcome new memorials, so why not take a look? Details here.

I will be thinking of you tomorrow. Please let us know what you did and I will put it on this blog.

I am always here, I answer emails as quickly as I can, and it's all free of charge. You can find articles, stories, movies and poetry on my Womb Twin Survivors web site.

The New Year 2011 will bring the publication of my new book, "Womb Twin Survivors ; the lost twin in the Dream of the Womb. " Details here.

I am very excited that this is almost finished, after many years of researching it and nearly two years of writing it. I hope it will help many of you to heal this overlooked and profound primal wound, which we womb twin survivors all share, and which can be healed.

With best wishes for a peaceful and healing experience on Womb Twin Day.

Althea.

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Here are some words of encouragement for you on this special day, from other womb twin survivors who have made the journey:

We are celebrating the opportunity to spread out the joy and share the pain of our early begin as twins. Congratulations to you all!, and let's keep close to each other, because that’s so cozy, and it makes us strong and reassured! Claudia, Portugal.

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An important reminder to all the special Womb Twin Survivors this holiday season: The gift of a SELF is the best gift of all!

Healing from Womb Twin Loss, and becoming a SELF - who deserves to live and celebrate the rituals of living, is possible. Not only is this a gift you can give yourself, it's also the gift that keeps giving to those around you all year round!

I feel stronger this holiday than ever before, thanks to the miraculous healing work I've experienced this year, and can honestly say for the first time ever that I am not sad at my birthday & twin loss time of year. This is historically the worst black-hole time of year for me (as it is for many others) and so far I feel an abundance of love and strength where there once was fear, anxiety and desolation. I feel so at peace that I don't even know if I can call myself a "survivor" right now, I just want to BE. All is as it's meant to be...aaah!

Just saying that feels like I've collapsed on top of Mt. Everest in surrender and accomplishment! What a journey it's been. Stay on Althea's Healing Path...it works.

With gratitude to Althea Hayton for figuring this out and having the courage to put it out there.

Until we all get to our Mt. Everest moments, we must remember to be kind to ourselves and appreciate how special we are. (I wouldn't want to be any other way!)

Meanwhile, here's a quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "Know how sublime it is to suffer and be strong"

Best wishes to all for a New Year filled with strength and togetherness.

Womb love, Monica, USA.

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Please persist--it is worth it! Being a womb twin allows us special experiences, and when brought to light, everything starts falling into place. I am somewhere in the middle of my journey, maybe just scratching the surface, but my life has changed more radically in the last 8 months than in the years and years of trying to understand what was "wrong." Thank you to my womb twins for giving me this life, and a super extra thank you to Althea for her incredible discoveries and dedication to helping all of us! Barbara, USA

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If you have any similar encouraging messages, feel free to add your comment - we are all in this together!

Althea

Want to make a memorial to your womb twin on Womb Twin day?

2010-10-29T11:13:00.001+01:00

WombTwin day will be on December 21st and we have our new womb twin memorials site. A good way to honour and remember your twin on WombTwin day this year may be to have a memorial made for your lost womb twin (or more). If we get them all ready in advance, they can be uploaded to the site on December 21st.

Althea makes the memorials, so if you get your application to her by November 20th, then she will get everything ready and make sure that all the memorials are uploaded together on to the web site at midnight GMT on 20th december.

You can choose an image from the gallery on the web site, or provide your own. All we ask is that you make a small donation to WombTwin.com, and your memorial will stay there on the web site for as long as you wish.

Take a look now and see how it works. There is an application form on the site.

The conference - small, but perfectly formed!

2010-10-05T13:03:00.008+01:00

There were 11 people at the conference, so the group was rather too small to split into two, so we worked as a single group. As a result the " Open Space" concept was not so effective for there were no choices. We had just 4 sessions, two presentations and two workshops.

On the Friday evening Claudia Pinheiro, who is the mother of a young womb twin survivor, gave a presentation about how to help wombtwin survivor babies and children. Even very young babies need special care and empathy, to recognise that they have suffered a great loss which they don't understand. See more of her work on her blog here:
See more of her work on her blog here.

On the Saturday morning, Viktoria Sas from Hungary gave a presentation. She has studied psychology at university and wrote her thesis about 114 people who participated in a family constellation, comparing the 14 people who discovered a lost twin with the others who did not find a twin. (She too had found her lost twin brother in a family constellation.) She made a questionnaire about their specific attitudes and personality. The most significant characteristic statement was "I am searching for something but I don't know what it is". This may be a characteristic marker for womb twin survivors everywhere.

Then Alfred Ramoda Austermann gave a presentation about aqua release (see Utube movie here. )

Also, he explained the various therapies he has developed over many years to help womb twin survivors, and in particular the use of family constellations. ( Find out more about his work here.)

Following a delicious lunch, we returned to our room ( see here for a view of the room we were in. ) Then it was time to explore the thorny issue of sexuality, using the family constellation method with the help of Alfred to explore sexual and gender issues. After tea and a chance to relax, we explored twinship and the conception journey, where a twin was lost.

On Sunday it was time to consider healing, and each of us made a ritual of our own personal healing journey. ( See more here on my wombtwin survivors project blog.)

This was followed by the Annual General Meeting, when we met William Bingley our patron, who came from Lancashire to meet everyone. The annual report was read (view this online here) and two new volunteers came forward to develop the organisation. Tracey Mason has donated a laptop, digital project and sound system to wombtwin.com from her own resources for use at events. She is willing to manage this equipment at events, and also to help develop the web site. We all gave many thanks to Tracey for this generous offer. The previous evening, Tony, who is already volunteer assistant editor for the monthly GENINI VOICES newsletter ( subscribe here if you don't already get it) has volunteered to help in other ways too. We have yet to find a suitable post but we are working on it!

At the conference wash up meeting, which was well-attended and very useful, several helpful points were raised.

1 There is some confusion about the concept of what "open space" truly means. This needs to be carefully clarified in the brochure.

2 Plenty of time at the very start as an icebreaker with everyone present making a personal introduction.

3 From the very start, to configure the room as a circle or horseshoe rather than theatre style in rows.

4 It is best to separate completely the presentations and the workshops, perhaps by having presentations in the morning and workshops in the afternoon, or if there is a large group, to run a series of presentations plus several separate workshops, arranged in a parallel timetable throughout the day.

All these ideas will be implemented next year, as we continue to try and meet the individual needs of the people who come to our annual conference. Plans are already going ahead for the next Womb Twin conference, to be held in November 2011. (Venue to be announced later.)

Thanks to everyone who participated and helped. It was a small meeting, but perfectly formed and exactly what we needed at this moment, as we gradually develop from our embryonic beginnings!

Althea

A new competition - have a go!

2010-09-25T11:06:00.001+01:00

Win a free copy of my new book "Womb twin survivors", to be published 1st March 2011. All you have to do is make a sentence of eight words using the letters in the word WOMBTWIN, in the correct order. The best sentence will make sense and have some connection to being a womb twin survivor. A panel of 4 judges will decide the result.

Thus:

We
Only
Make
Black
Teapots
When
Its
November
(Actually, I cheated with "Its" because that is two words, but you get the idea I hope!

Use this form to send us your sentence

The 10 best sentences, including the winner and two runners-up, will be posted on the wombtwin survivors web site next year.

Althea

Have fun!

Food addiction workshop at the conference - coming?

2010-08-31T19:41:00.002+01:00

Well the bookings are coming in again, after a bit of a lull over the summer, and it looks like we will have some very interesting workshops and talks. I love open space as you never know what will be happening and its always far better than you can ever imagine....! Sadly my EFT friend is not coming after all as she has to be somewhere else that day, but we will have at least one workshop on sexuality and gender issues, which I must say I'm looking forward to, plus I'm going to do a workshop about womb twin survivors and food issues, as I'm sure there is a link to anorexia and obesity. Food addiction is one my sidelines. ( See my book FOOD AND YOU here!)

Also we will have a lovely presentation about a young womb twin survivor, given by her mother. They have made a beautiful book about a child who loses a womb twin.

Not to mention plenty of chances to chat and enjoy ourselves, and to walk the beautiful grounds of the centre and share stories late into the night.... should be fun.

Reserve your place today!

Althea

Womb twin "memorial plaques" go live!

2010-08-12T20:33:00.001+01:00

Who is going to be the first?

(My plaque for my womb twin, Ben, is already there as an example.....)

The memorial web site is live, as of today!

VISIT MEMORIAL PAGE NOW

Making memorials

2010-08-07T07:55:00.001+01:00

I had this idea yesterday. Lets make a page on the wombtwin website for memorials to the womb twins we all have lost - there will be hundreds and it would make quite a display!

I thought about each person maybe sending a special image that symbolises their twin, not too big, and then that image gets set into a kind of memorial plaque, that we can put in rows on the page, like they are mounted on a wall.

Not sure about triplets or quads, just playing with ideas. Any comments or suggestions?

This is what I made for my twin as an experiment: what do you think?

EFT workshop at the conference!

2010-08-06T07:00:00.002+01:00

I heard from a colleague in Birmingham that she is coming to the conference [ details here] to head up a workshop on EFT ( Emotional Freedom Technique). She wants to see if it can help womb twin survivors heal their emotional trauma.

Here are a few more details:

( FROM THEIR SITE : EFT is a powerful new method based on the discovery that emotional trauma contributes greatly to disease. Scientific studies have shown that EFT is able to rapidly reduce the emotional impact of memories and incidents that trigger emotional distress. Once the distress is reduced or removed, the body can often rebalance itself, and accellerate healing. Here's how you can experience this for yourself:

Try EFT yourself by downloading our free starter package, Jumpstart Your Health With EFT. It gives you all the basics and allows you to test drive EFT on your own issues (although at a beginner's level). If you wish to dive right in you can purchase the EFT books. Caveat: For people who are emotionally or physically frail, qualified health professionals should be consulted before using ANY health procedure, including EFT.
Peruse the many studies and experiments on our EFT Research and Science section.
Read the exhaustive list of actual cases on this website. These are written by clients, therapists and physicians and allow you to see EFT's possibilities through the eyes of those that have already been there. Note the wide variety of successes. This is why one of our sayings is, "Try it on everything."

More benefits...

You can make enormous strides by introducing EFT into your emotional therapy process (whether you are a professional or a client). Instead of taking months or years using conventional "talk therapy," EFT often does the job for you cleanly and thoroughly in one or two sessions ... and we sometimes achieve noticeable results in a few brief rounds of EFT. We label these near-instant results as "one minute wonders."
Once you have seen how well EFT clears out emotional debris, your next step is to notice how physical ailments start to fade. Headaches, back pains and other discomforts often tend to improve or vanish as emotional issues improve (this is the essence of Mind Body Medicine). Your vision may become clearer and everyday stress may take less toll on your system.
Accordingly, you can apply it to just about everything. That is one of the most astonishing things about it. You use the same basic procedure for your fear of public speaking as you do for improving your golf score. Further, people write on this site on their success with EFT for many emotional issues, including fear, trauma, depression, and grief.

Possible EFT limitations

EFT is not perfect. We don't have a 100% success rate. But it usually works well and the results are sometimes spectacular. EFT can often achieve substantial relief with little or no pain. This is not true for everyone, however. Some people's issues are so intense that the mere mention of them causes emotional or physical pain. But, given time, even these may be resolved efficiently with EFT. If you have serious emotional or physical problems you are advised to consult your physician or licensed mental health practitioner, since EFT is not a substitute for medical or mental health treatment. You are encouraged you to share your experiences with EFT with your healthcare providers.

So that will be another fascinating discussion. What would YOU like to discuss at the conference?

Have you registered yet? Do so today - there are still places available. The more, the merrier!

Associate members

2010-08-02T19:01:00.004+01:00

As from today, we have 62 associate members! They live in all parts of the world, but mainly the USA. We have a plan, maybe by the time of the AGM in 2012, to create an international full membership, but we will need a few more staff before we can manage that!

(At the moment our full members are drawn from all parts of the UK and Europe - want to join us as a full member? )

Until that day, if you live outside the UK and Europe, the only way to join as a member is to be an associate, but its a start. Would you like to be an associate member to show support for your work? The form is on the website, but I've put it here for you in case you feel like joining in.

"Womb Twin survivors"- Conference press release out today.

2010-07-30T07:13:00.001+01:00

Conference ( Oct 1st- 3rd 2010) :

I made a press release today and will be sending out over the next week in a major publicity drive to make this conference the best ever! It will certainly be the biggest!

You can download it here

(Please pass the link or the pdf along to anyone who may be interested. Thanks. )

This is what it says:

The first international conference weekend for womb twin survivors to be held in the UK will be held in St Albans, Hertfordshire October 1st -3rd, organised by WombTwin.com, a non-profit organisation providing information help and support for womb twin survivors in the UK and around the world. Womb twin survivors are the sole survivors of a twin or multiple pregnancy.

Althea Hayton, founding Director of WombTwin.com, says: "One in every ten people is a womb twin survivor but only a few of them realise. The loss of one twin in pregnancy or around birth, leaving a sole survivor, is a very common occurrence but unfortunately little known and rarely discussed. We intend to put that right."

Who are the womb twin survivors? They are twin-less twins whose co-twin died during pregnancy or around birth; survivors of a "vanishing twin" pregnancy; people who were told that they once had a twin; survivors of a suspected miscarriage; survivors of an abortion attempt; people with a dermoid cyst, teratoma, fetus in fetu or even a parasitic twin. They are people who have had a lifelong feeling of being a twin or who have been diagnosed by a therapist as a womb twin survivor.

"My research has shown that people with a fear of abandonment, or haunted by a strange sense of vulnerability or who have always been searching for something all their lives, may be womb tun survivors," says Althea, "but they are unable to find any evidence that their mother was carrying twins. But still that vague feeling of a twin is there always, deep down."

Friday 1st October begins the conference with an open meeting, free if charge for anyone interested to come and learn more. Althea will be there to welcome everyone, and Claudia Pinheiro, the mother or of Maria, a seven year old womb twin survivor, will be coming from Portugal to introduce a new initiative to help young womb twin survivors. She and her seven year old daughter have worked together to create a workbook for children with illustrations created by Maria herself. Entry by free ticket only.

On Saturday 2nd October there is a full programme of talks and workshops. organised as an "Open Space" event.

"Other workshops will be about clutter, food problems and sexuality issues, which are common among womb twin survivors," says Althea. "and I will be presenting the latest research results from my womb twin survivors project.

On Sunday 3rd October there will be three workshops about therapy, healing and memorial. The AGM of wombtwin.com will also take place.

The venue is All Saints Pastoral Centre, London Colney. Accommodation is available in single or twin rooms. All meals provided. day places also available. Entry to Friday meeting by free ticket only

More details on the web site www.wombtwin.com

To reserve your place, email info@wombtwin.com for details about how to book and pay online or by post.

Reserve your place today!

Welcome!

2010-07-29T15:57:00.000+01:00

This is our new blog for the Womb Twin company. It's making use of the latest web technology to bring you the all the latest news of developments in the world of womb twin survivors.

We have moved here from the Wombtwin Survivors blog, created by Althea in 2007 to document the birth and development of the WombTwin Project. The WombTwin survivors blog will be taken down at the end of this year, because Althea's research programme is coming to an end on the last day of 2010, (to be replaced no doubt by something new!)

This blog is designed to compliment the material on the main Womb Twin web site.

I hope you will enjoy what we have to offer. There's a load of information for you here and on the main WombTwin web site, so take a look around, leave a comment, send us a message, explore the pages and follow the links.

Check in tomorrow for the latest news of our third annual Conference, happening in just two months time! (brochure)