David Kellman, Bobby Shafran, and Eddy Galland were identical triplets who were separated at birth and unknowingly adopted by different families. Their incredible and heartbreaking story gained national attention and was later documented in the 2018 film Three Identical Strangers.
In 1980, Bobby Shafran arrived at Sullivan County Community College in New York for his first day and was surprised to be warmly greeted by students who seemed to recognize him. Another student, Michael Domnitz, realized Bobby was identical to his friend, Eddy Galland, who had attended the same school the year before. The two young men soon met and were shocked to find they were long-lost identical twins.
Their story was published in a local newspaper, and soon after, David Kellman saw the article and noticed the striking resemblance between Bobby and Eddy—because he, too, looked exactly like them. He reached out, and the three young men reunited, realizing they were, in fact, triplets who had been separated at birth.
But their parents – none of whom knew that their child was a triplet – had questions for the adoption agency. But the agency simply defended the decision, claiming it was easier to place three single children to families than them all as a unit.
It wasn’t until 1994 that it was discovered that scientists had deliberately split the babies in a secret experiment, as other separated twins began to find their missing siblings.
The triplets were born in 1961 and had been placed in separate homes by the adoption agency Louise Wise Services. It was later revealed that their separation was not random but part of a secret psychological study conducted by psychiatrist Dr. Peter Neubauer. The study aimed to examine the effects of nature vs. nurture by placing identical siblings in families with different socioeconomic backgrounds—Bobby in an upper-class home, Eddy in a middle-class home, and David in a working-class home. None of the adoptive parents were informed that their child had identical siblings.
Initially, the triplets became media sensations, appearing on talk shows and enjoying their newfound brotherhood. They moved in together, opened a restaurant called “Triplets,” and embraced their celebrity status.
In fact, they weren’t even the only twins or triplets that had been part of the experiment, with Louise Wise Adoption Agency working in tandem with the scientists, led by Dr Peter Neubauer, to find the ‘study’ babies. The results of the study were never published and remain sealed to this day, but it’s inferred by Dr Neubauer’s aide, who spoke to the documentary, that there were shocking conclusions that included predetermined behavior, inherited mannerisms, and similar fates.
There are also suspicions the study was investigating how hereditary mental health issues were, with most involved all suffering from various diagnoses. To this day it is still not known how many other children adopted through the agency are unaware that they have a twin.
Bobby, David and Eddy all were placed under psychiatric care at various points as teenagers. Eddy took life as a triplet particularly hard, and admitted he felt like his life and opinions were no longer entirely his own or unique. Suffering from manic depression, tragically Eddy died by suicide in 1995, at the age of 34.
Although David and Bobby’s relationship became increasingly strained, they are now on much better terms. But the experiment, and the fact that they have never been able to discover the truth about what it was even for, has weighed heavy on them.
Bobby later told LA Times: “We’ve been called subjects. We’re victims. There’s a big difference. I don’t want to play off like we’re horribly injured people now as adults — we have families, we have children — we’re relatively normal people. But they treated us like lab rats. Nothing more. And we’re human beings.”
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