I’m not a twin, but I am a parent, and I have a a nephew, and my son has a stepsister who has called me Uncle Jason since she could talk.
I don’t feel closer to my nephew than I am with my “niece.” I normally wouldn’t make a distinction based on genetics, except that it is relevant here. I’m not closer with my sister’s kids than I am with the other two.
Also, I’m not sure closeness is really even a good distinction. I’m not generally responsible for my niece or nephew, but if they or my son needed me to travel across the country to rescue them from some bad situation, I’d do it. I love those kids.
Being responsible for a child may present as being closer to them, So does spending a lot of time with a child. One could argue that these are two aspects of closeness. Neither of those things have anything to do with genetics.
Personality can be a huge factor in closeness too, and there is a huge variation in personality, even amongst identical twins.
Genetics seems only tangentially related to closeness, and mostly because the vast majority of children are genetically related to their parents. Family is complex, and often has more to do with shared history than anything else.
I would have been shocked if twin sisters cared equally about nieces and kids. Genetic similarity is one factor, not the entire story.
I agree.
I’m not a twin, but I am a parent, and I have a a nephew, and my son has a stepsister who has called me Uncle Jason since she could talk.
I don’t feel closer to my nephew than I am with my “niece.” I normally wouldn’t make a distinction based on genetics, except that it is relevant here. I’m not closer with my sister’s kids than I am with the other two.
Also, I’m not sure closeness is really even a good distinction. I’m not generally responsible for my niece or nephew, but if they or my son needed me to travel across the country to rescue them from some bad situation, I’d do it. I love those kids.
Being responsible for a child may present as being closer to them, So does spending a lot of time with a child. One could argue that these are two aspects of closeness. Neither of those things have anything to do with genetics.
Personality can be a huge factor in closeness too, and there is a huge variation in personality, even amongst identical twins.
Genetics seems only tangentially related to closeness, and mostly because the vast majority of children are genetically related to their parents. Family is complex, and often has more to do with shared history than anything else.