The nation's twins, triplets and quadruplets are the focus of our attention as Multiple Births Awareness Week celebrates the joys of parenting multiples and also educates communities and professionals about the unique challenges of doing so.
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But here at The Canberra Times, we just wanted to understand them a little more.
So through our photos and their words, we voyeuristically explored the similarities and differences between some of our local Canberra twins.
Not content to leave the wonder of nature alone, we also – through the magic of Photoshop – have created our own unique blend of twin. A half-half photo merge of their portraits both highlights their visual likenesses, but also provides a unique glimpse of their distinctions.
Hannah and Isabella Dempsey, 9.
Just like those cheeky girls Sharon and Susan in the movie The Parent Trap, Hannah and Isabella are not averse to the odd prank in which they pretend to be the other. They look so alike that such pranks have even managed to fool the experts – mum, dad and grandma.
The girls feel blessed to have an instant playmate at the same age, and most of the time they like similar activities.
"I kind of like sporty things and (Isabella) kind of likes girlier things," says Hannah.
"She's more sporty than me and I like pink and she hates it," confirms Isabella.
While most of the time their bond is harmonious, the girls find it annoying when they are mistakenly referred to as the other twin. It's even worse when they fall out with each other.
"Sometimes we get into fights and then we have no-one to play with," says Hannah.
Ruby and Scarlett Black, 14.
Most of the time Ruby and Scarlett feel like normal sisters who just look alike.
But sometimes their twin identity takes over and leaves them wondering.
"Sometimes we just start singing a song at the exact same time without even hearing the song before. It's kind of freaky, kind of relatable to our twin connection," says Ruby.
"One day when we were at school we lost our tooth on the same day – the same tooth in the same place," says Scarlett.
Once in year 5, the girls swapped classes for the day and the teacher didn't notice.
Ruby remembers, "It was on April Fool's day as well so we stopped it at 12 o'clock but I think my teacher already knew it was Scarlet but her teacher didn't know. Everyone in the class was in on it except for the teacher".
Scarlett says companionship is the best part of having a twin.
"I like that you're never lonely and you always have someone to hang out with, and it's fun because you get to hang out with your best friend all the time."
But she confesses "You sometimes need time to be by yourself".
David and Paul Cains, 37.
For a mum who was told she was having a "big baby", the arrival of David and Paul was a proud moment for the Cains family and the boys remember being dressed in identical "good" outfits whenever the family went out.
But as fraternal, or non-identical twins, David and Paul are a set of twins who are relatively easy to tell apart.
"As you can see Paul and I are quite different in terms of looks and always have been really. I was always a fair bit taller than Paul although we are a similar height now. We're not often mistaken for each other."
David's close bond with his brother was miraculously repeated when he had his own set of twins six years ago – William and Sam.
"It's nice to feel like you have some insights into their relationship and the sorts of memories and experiences they will share. I think it's a positive thing."
The men are good natured about a competitive streak they have harboured all their lives.
One of Paul's fondest memories was when David failed his driving test.
"So I was able to drive legally by myself, he wasn't...."
Meanwhile David is eight minutes older so "when we turned 18 he could have a beer eight minutes before I could", says Paul with a hint of outrage.
"I'm the baby of the family, I've got to be a smart arse."
William and Sam Cains, 6.
"Sometimes when I feel alone, then I can find Sam," says Will of his best friend.
"Some people say Sam for me and some people say Will for Sam: I say "I am Will!"
At six, the boys spend a lot of time engaged in physical activities.
"We play soccer sometime. I'm the best player," says Will.
"I don't like wrestling, [Will's] too strong for me. I'm better at gymnastics, handstands, cartwheels and forward rolls."
Teachers and friends get the two mixed up, although Sam's glasses are generally a guide to who is who.
Gemma and Tia Van Kampen, 14.
"At times we are best friends, when we get along. And at others we hate each other and we wish we weren't twins," says Gemma.
Sharing a birthday is one of the worst drawbacks of the situation.
"Sharing a birthday, your parents make you share the same party," she says.
But the girls have "different friends, different groups. We like different music, different decorations, different colours, different foods".
Tia confirms that to add insult to injury at party time "people give you the same thing, you fight over whose is whose, you fight over clothes".
But for the majority of the time, these girls are known to stay up all night chatting and constantly have each other's back,
"You can also keep things to each other if you wanted to tell someone who wouldn't tell anyone else, you could tell your twin – they are kind of closer to you than a brother or sister," says Tia.
Katelyn and Elise Birchall, 20.
When Katelyn started preschool she naturally assumed everyone else would have a twin. "I thought it was normal".
Katelyn nominates Elise, as the older and more bossy twin. She thinks that as they have grown older, she and Elise have grown closer because they have been able to claim some space for themselves.
Elise agrees that now they are doing more of their own things and developing different interests they cherish each other more.
"There's a look where you don't have to say anything and you just kind of get it."
Elise loves being a twin so much she is keen to have twins of her own.
"You've got twice the work but they would always have a friend and someone to hang out with."
She thinks she has a small window of opportunity in which she would dress twins in the same clothes – she and Katelyn refused to dress alike after the age of 14.
Carrie Davies and Louise Edmonds, 51.
"Mum deliberately made a point of not dressing us the same because we are two little individuals, even though we were two peas in a pod," says Carrie.
"We call ourselves the royal 'we' , we're always referred to as 'we' , it's never 'my idea' it's 'our' idea."
The closeness extends to a sympathetic and unspoken sense of awareness in which Carrie has "panic attacks, when you know that there is some event going to happen and you don't know what it is but you recognise that it's something to do with your twin".
When the girls were born their heartbeats were synchronised, so after one baby was out, it was a surprise to find another one on its way.
The girls shared one set of baby clothes and were laid in a drawer head to tail.
Louise says the sharing has extended to adulthood, where they share many opinions and ideas.
"Our kids … they used to call us stereo mum … they could almost guarantee that one would start a sentence and the other would finish it or we'd be saying it at the same time."
Louise even shared some of Carrie's morning sickness.
"I knew she was pregnant before she told me … I'd been quite sick for a week so I went to the doctor and she said "No you're not pregnant" … I also managed to get the labour pain as well which sucked."
