People should be able to choose how they live their lives. There should be no puppeteer or anonymous narrator lurking in the background. In short, strings shouldn’t be pulled by anyone. Free will has always been the foundation of America — so why should any situation be any different?
A few years ago, my parents and I sat down to watch a movie and my father chose something that I wasn’t particularly excited to see — a 2018 documentary titled Three Identical Strangers. As a teen, I was not one to suddenly become interested in viewing documentaries; however, this one kept my interest with a story so hauntingly-real that it got me thinking.
This film, directed by Tim Wardle, follows the heartbreaking true story of triplets born in the 1960s who were separated at birth following the death of a fourth brother during childbirth. The three remaining boys were born to a single mother and each was given up for adoption to separate families. Interestingly enough, the families weren’t aware of the fact that the very child they were adopting was being snatched away from their fellow siblings.
Why the boys were separated, however, was only a mystery until the boys met, by coincidence, in the beginning of their college careers. The boys discovered that The Louise Wise Adoption Agency had separated the siblings on purpose, as they were conducting an experiment on nature vs. nurture. It’s almost like buying a puzzle that doesn’t come with a box. Where is the security? The safety? The instructions? How do you know what is vital to the puzzle if you are not aware of all of the information?
I remember after watching this, I immediately texted my friends to tell them this happened. They all agreed it was unbelievable. One of my friends Nicole replied back with “if I ever had to give up my child, I would want to be able to know that they would be taken care of and put into a good home. Not having that guarantee scares me. That my child’s life could be thrown away for an experiment.”
The Louise Wise Adoption Agency kept constant variables in the homes of the brothers. For example, each had an adopted older sister. The agency also purposely placed each brother in a different class home, with one in high class, one in middle class, and one in low class. Then, they proceeded to do check-ins to study the kids, assuring the families that it was a typical task that all adopted children receive, when in reality, it was for the purpose of the experiment.
The three brothers grew close together and then further apart after they discovered that their lives had been strung together for the sole purpose of finding whether nature affects one more, or nurture. One of the brothers who had been struggling with depression for quite a time, Eddie Shafran, committed suicide later in his life after the brothers had grown away from each other. In his honor, his remaining brothers fought to find the results and readings of their tests. The question was again raised: nature or nurture? The ultimate answer came out as nurture, but at what cost? How far will people go for science? Will they even disrupt the natural course of a child’s life in order to say, “I’m smart. Look who I manipulated?” The answer is yes. The Louise Wise Agency had split up several other sets of twins and triplets, some of which were discovered and some of which have not been. People have gone their whole lives without realizing they’re missing another part of themselves.
So, I ask you — is the achievement of an experiment more important than the well being of others?