Growing up, Robin Melamed and Tara Liebnick, now 45, were typical twins. They shared the same group of friends and more often than not, they completed each other’s sentences. In college, they joined the same sorority. Then, in their thirties and within a matter of months, the twins got the news—they both had cancer.

Through hysterectomies, chemotherapy and lengthy hospital stays, the twins found solace in their relationship that’s like no other.

They’re not alone. Many twins with chronic illness have found that navigating their condition together has both grounded them and lifted them up.

Fraternal twins Jamie Serrano and Zach Friedlander, 29, have supported each other through chronic illness as well. The twins always had diverging interests. Serrano is more of a book worm; Friedlander was the physical twin. Having celiac disease has given them something to bond over.

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