Born in New York City in 1961, Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman were separated and adopted by three different families through an adoption agency that never informed the adoptive parents of the boys’ triplet status.
The story begins with Robert Shafran’s first day at Sullivan County Community College in 1980, where he was mistaken for Edward Galland, who had attended the same college the previous year.
The uncanny resemblance between the two led to the discovery that they were identical twins. When their story was published in a local newspaper, the third brother, David Kellman, saw the article and recognized himself in the twins. This revelation brought the three together, completing the set of triplets.
Their reunion became a media sensation, capturing public fascination and leading to appearances on talk shows and newspapers around the world. The brothers discovered they shared not only looks but also behaviors, tastes, and mannerisms, despite being raised in different environments.
However, the joyful reunion soon gave way to darker revelations. The brothers learned they had been part of a secret scientific study conducted by psychologist Peter Neubauer. The study was designed to track the development of genetically identical siblings raised in contrasting socio-economic conditions to explore the nature versus nurture debate.
The results were never published, and the records were sealed, leaving many questions unanswered about the ethics and motivations behind the experiment.
