Have you ever thought of murdering your sibling after an argument? Or does that seem a bit too extreme? Perhaps too understandable? Sisters! There is no greater bond like that of sisters, and even more so if they are twin sisters. Twins are fascinating, and the Gibbons twins, Jennifer and June, were no exception. The Gibbons twins’ closeness and companionship was startling to say the least, but their gift of having each other eventually turned into a curse.
Jennifer and June Gibbons were born on April 11, 1963, in Barbados, to Gloria and Aubrey Gibbons, and they grew up in Havenfordwest, Wales.1 Like most twins, the girls shared a tight bond; but their bond was even stronger than most. They only spoke to each other, using the few words that they knew. This characteristic of their relationship is what gave them the label Silent Twins. In their small town, they were the only black children in their school, which consequently led to their being bullied because of their race. These experiences only intensified their avoidance of communicating with anyone outside of their unique duo, which, according to the New Yorker journalist Hilton Als, “led to their emotional exile, their institutionalization, and…to the misguided appropriation of their story by activists and theorists who used it to pose questions about the nature of identity and the strange birthright that twins are forced to bear.”2
Soon after suffering from the bullying, the twins cut themselves off from others even further. They only spoke to each other in a unique language only they understood, and they began to refuse to do any school work or show any signs of productivity. The family then chose to move to Wales, and when the girls were enrolled in a school near the Haverfordwest community, which was known for intense racism, the bullying grew severe.3 From taunting them to pulling their hair, their schoolmates terrorized the girls constantly. Consequently, the sisters’ behavior grew to be even more odd, from synchronized walking to mirroring one another’s actions, as if they were the same person.4 Thereafter, a school nurse became intrigued with the sisters. School physician John Reed came to vaccinate the students, and upon giving June and Jennifer their shots, he noted that the girls did not even flinch. They just stood there lifeless. The nurse then reported this to the school. The school had been familiar with the strange behavior the girls were constantly exhibiting. Therefore, the sisters were sent to Haverfordwest Withybush Hospital in February 1977 for examination.5 Upon arriving at the hospital, the girls continued to not speak to anyone but to each other. The girls were then transferred to East Gate Special Education Center, which served as a boarding school. While at the center, Jennifer and June continued to isolate themselves. Consequently, they were separated in hopes of having the girls become independent from each other. Jennifer remained at East Gate, while June was sent thirty miles away to St. David’s Adolescent Unit. This had disastrous effects on the girls to the point of them becoming catatonic, where they would not eat or sleep until they were reunited.
When the girls turned sixteen, they were sent back home, where they spent several years refraining from interacting with anyone other than eachother. They used writing as a form of entertainment and found great passion in it. Eventually, the girls would enroll in a writing program as one person, hoping to become famous novelists. Their novels were never recognized, which fairly disappointed the girls. Upon turning eighteen, the sisters finally left their rooms and began a downward spiral from doing drugs to committing crimes and abusing one another. They were arrested after breaking a window and lighting a fire at a community college. Consequently, they were sent to Puckle Church Remand Center, where they stayed for seven months. While there, the girls wrote diaries about how much they hated each other and were scared of each other. In their diaries, they wrote about how lonely they were, but once reunited, they reverted to hating each other once again. They were diagnosed with psychopathic personality disorder, and were sent to Broadmoor Mental Hospital, where they were seen as very disturbed and violent. Eventually, after eleven years at Broadmoor, they were transferred to Caswell Clinic, another mental hospital.
At that time, the journalist Marjorie Wallace had become interested in the girls and began studying them. Jennifer had admitted to Wallace that she had to die in order for June to survive and thrive. The girls mentioned to Wallace that the day of their transfer would be the day Jennifer would have to die.6 They believed that they could not both function properly at the same time, while both of them were still living. This was the underlying cause for their strange behavior. In March 1993, at thirty-one years old, the girls were transferred to Caswell, but upon arrival, Jennifer was unresponsive. Jennifer was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, with the cause of death being a sudden inflammation of the heart. Jennifer died on the exact day the sisters had predicted, from bizarrely natural causes. June stated that when Jennifer was dying, her last words were “At last we’re out.”7
After Jennifer’s death, June left Caswell a year later and her life completely changed. She began speaking more and improving her social skills. It was as if their belief that only one could thrive was proven to be true. June then requested to be called by her middle name, Alison, to help with the reinvention of her whole identity. It would take June five years to accept Jennifer’s death, refrain from feeling guilty, and fully move on with her life, according to Marjorie Wallace.8
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 3-4. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/12/04/we-two-made-one. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. ↵
- Polly Teale, Speechless (London: Nick Hern Books, 2011), 14. ↵
- Hilton Als, “We Two Made One,” New Yorker, December 2000. Accessed January 27,2018. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/12/04/we-two-made-one ↵
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 270. ↵
- April de Angelis, “June Gibbons couldn’t mourn the death of her ‘silent twin’ Jennifer,” Guardian Newspaper, May 29, 1994. Accessed January 27, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jun/28/fiction.classicalmusicandopera ↵
- Marjorie Wallace, The Silent Twins (United Kingdom: Vintage Publishing, 1996), 273. ↵
144 comments
Mariah Cavanaugh
Your article on the Gibbon’s twins was fascinating and bizarre, great topic choice! While your article was detailed and well written it left me with so many questions. None of which I think can even be answered. I appreciate the fact that you pointed out how their relationship with each other was toxic yet they were unable to function when separated.
Faten Al Shaibi
The strangest thing is that there is no explanation for it and the other thing in my belief may be there role of bullying to creation of this problem because it always results in psychological damage and sometimes human losses ,Or it is likely to be a rare disease occurs when the twins are similar in a small proportion and the mental state of bad make it worse like what happened with Jennifer and June
Kaitlyn Killebrew
I was expecting this to be similar to the stories where one twin is in the hospital and they use the other as a “spare” (someone comment if they know what movie that’s from), but I was not expecting this. What I found extremely odd was that the sisters were bullied and the parents didn’t know and when they moved, they moved to an even more at risk area. Were the parents just completely unaware? I would have hoped that the change in their personality would have sparked some sort of questions but nothing was really done until John Reed reported their lack of emotion from getting shots. I wish we got to learn a bit more on their thoughts, to read their diaries. To only be close with one other person and have both of them write similar ideas of hating and fearing the other, it’s interesting.
Stephanie Silvola
The “Silent Sisters” were captivating in this article. The way that they grew close and then apart really tore me. To always just having each other through the tough times and then for one to die so the other can “thrive” is really upsetting. Both sisters seemed to have accepted this at the time and that is a depressing thought. Jennifer’s death should be looked into because how can one’s death be predicted and then correct? Although June felt guilty after realizing, I am glad she can start as a new independent person.
Karina Cardona Ruiz
I had not heard of Jennifer and June Gibbons until I read this article, but I’m glad I did because this story truly was fascinating. It’s a shame that they were bullied so early on in life and it makes me wonder if they hadn’t been bullied if their lives would’ve turned out the same or been different. It’s also sad how their close bond turned toxic and caused them to hate one another. The prediction they had about Jennifer’s death and June’s life after is somewhat disturbing. Their prediction really makes you wonder if it was just a freaky coincidence, if they could have really known, or perhaps it was a placebo to the point where they believed in it so much they sort of made it come true.
Sabrina Hsu
The story of these “Silent Sisters” was very fascinating and intriguing. It’s crazy that they didn’t talk to anyone but each other, but I think I understand why. They already had a very close bond to begin with since they were twins, and going through the trauma of being bullied brought them even closer together. It sounds so unreal that they predicted Jennifer’s death, and even more unreal that June actually did thrive afterwards. Overall I really enjoyed learning about June and Jennifer and their interesting life story.
Ysenia Rodriguez
This is truly fascinating. The idea of two sisters, twin sisters, who grew up through the same torture and pain that made them isolate everyone around them except one another, but, with a psychological bond so powerful that they believed that neither of them could function with the other in their life. How is this possible? More importantly, how could June and Jennifer predict Jennifer’s death at the same time with accurate description of when and where? This article is very informative and I thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Nathalie Herrera
I had heard of the “Silent Sisters” before, but never had a chance to fully read and understand their story. Although this article did a great job of doing so. The rough path they endured during their childhood years was sad yet understandable for their drift away from others. Additionally, it was sad to read Jennifer believing she needed to die in order for June to “survive and thrive.” Overall, really interesting read!
Aneesa Zubair
You chose a deeply engrossing topic. I’ve never heard of these twins before, and after reading your article, I had to look them up and research them more. There are so many strange aspects to their relationship, like how they spoke in their own made-up language, and fought so much but became catatonic when separated. The stories they wrote could be pretty disturbing, too. It seems that the bullying they experienced in school must have been horrific and traumatic for them, and they only had each other to turn to, so they became literally inseparable. The fact that Jennifer apparently predicted her own death is very strange, though.
Sofia Andrade
In reading this article I was completely intrigued. I had always heard that twins have a special connection but the connection of the silent twins is something I had not heard of. For the silent twins to be connected or withdrawn from each other even when they are not physically close calls for a special connection. It seemed as if their connection was so strong that it was not possible for them to be living this life together, that one of them had to die in order for one of them to live. After reading this article a theory came to my mind. I have also heard about the evil twin; Jennifer was the evil twin and she had to die so June could thrive. After Jennifer died, June was able to live a normal life, as if Jennifer was the evil twin that was controlling them both and was behind the mischievous behavior.