West Hartford resident Debbie Mehlman appeared on the ‘Today’ Show on Tuesday with her identical twin, Sharon Poset, a woman she didn’t even know for the first 45 years of her life.

West Hartford resident Debbie Mehlman (right) and her identical twin Sharon Poset appeared on a ‘Today’ Show segment about nature vs. nurture. Screen shot of ‘Today’ Show broadcast, June 23, 2015

By Ronni Newton

A West Hartford woman who didn’t realize that she was adopted, or a twin, for the first 45 years of her life appeared Tuesday on a “Today” Show segment that’s part of the NBC morning show’s “Summer of Secrets” series.

Debbie Mehlman found out that she had an identical twin and met her sister, Sharon Poset of Birmingham, AL, 18 years ago.

The two women, who appeared on the show wearing identical shirts – which was completely by coincidence – were interviewed by correspondent Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former President George W. Bush, who is also a twin.

The segment, which can be viewed by clicking here, focused on whether nature or nurture plays a more dominant role in personality and other human traits.

According to the “Today” Show, “contrary to common belief, recent research suggests that the influential aspects of nature versus nurture are almost equally split. A study of more than 14.5 million twins over the course of 50 years found that human traits are 49 percent genetic and 51 percent environmental.”

We-Ha.com Creative Director Joy Taylor, who is an identical twin, had this to say about the nature vs. nurture debate:

A throwback to about 1968, Joy Taylor and her twin Amy Melvin in West Hartford. Photo courtesy of Joy Taylor

“When I wonder if it’s nature or nurture that makes my identical twin Amy and me the way we are, I guess I’d have to look to our other siblings to see if we are really that different from them. I do see some family similarities among all of us, but there are certain things that only we twins ‘get’ about each other. Like the twins in the show, we have always had our own sort of unspoken language. Sometimes we can just glance at each other and know one another’s thoughts. I guess ‘normal’ siblings can do that occasionally too, but a twin bond is pretty special. I often think it’s too bad we don’t all come into the world as twins!”

Taylor and her twin sister Amy Melvin appeared on the Colin McEnroe show on WNPR last year to share their own twin stories. Click here for the link to that broadcast.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford!