Inside the life of two sets of identical twins, who now live, work and raise children together
After identical twin sisters from Delaware married identical twin brothers from Tennessee, the children they are raising together share in a rare biological phenomenon.
When identical twin sisters Briana and Brittany Deane first saw identical twin brothers Josh and Jeremy Salyers, they say they thought the brothers were handsome and hoped to meet them. Within 15 minutes of chatting, the Salyers brothers said they knew it was love. That first encounter took place at the Twinsburg, Ohio, Twins Day Festival, which claims to be the largest annual gathering of twins and multiples in the world.
"Jeremy and I really were attracted to each other and started gravitating toward each other," Briana Salyers said. "And Brittany and Josh started. So it was like perfectly kind of paired off."
The meeting set off whirlwind romances for all four. Six months later, the brothers popped the question together: Jeremy Salyers proposing to Briana, and Josh Salyers proposing to Brittany -- even with matching engagement rings.
"It was this amazing double proposal," Briana Salyers said. "And it was, it was so beautiful. We even said yes at the same moment."
One year later, the couples returned to the Twinsburg Twins Day Festival for a joint wedding ceremony.
All four now live and work together at Smith Mountain Manor, the wedding venue they run and where they reside in Huddleston, Virginia.
In 2022, both couples became parents.
Brittany and Josh Salyers are parents to Jett, who turned 3 in January, and Briana and Jeremy Salyers are parents to Jax, who turned 3 in April. All four parents say they are raising the boys like they are brothers.
While Jax Salyers and Jett Salyers are cousins, they also share in a rare biological phenomenon: because each of their twin parents share identical DNA, Jax Salyers and Jett Salyers also share DNA close enough for them to be considered “genetic siblings.”
"They are technically known as quaternary twins," Briana Salyers said. "So they, because they are genetic brothers and they were born less than 9 or 10 months [of] each other. They're genetic brothers [and] the same age."
The two young boys, who say they have two moms and two dads, also call each other brother instead of cousin.
Briana Salyers and Brittany Salyers say they planned to become pregnant at the same time and wanted their pregnancies to overlap. While they didn't necessarily feel they needed to give birth on the same day, they say they were eager to experience pregnancy together.
"Briana and I, we each went through miscarriages," Brittany Salyers said. "And so the pressure when it's this situation of identical twins married to identical twins [...] the intrigue and fun of it is staying on the same page of life."
"It's a big relief when they got to overlap their pregnancies like that," Josh Salyers said. "Because we wanted that for them."
Given their unique living situation, the Salyers say they do face some misconceptions:
“I think there are people who wonder if it's a polygamist situation, and that's very not the case,” Briana Salyers said. “So it's true [...] traditional monogamous marriages. But we just raise the kids [...] under the same roof. We share finances and all of that, but we're not sharing spouses.”
“Each twin gets their own partner,” Brittany Salyers added.
Now, along with raising a family the Salyers say they continue to do nearly everything alike, including eating, exercising, and often dressing the same. They hope to, they say, always stay on the same page.
"If I'm going to go, you know, jump on the trampoline, I'll go tell Brittany," Briana Salyers said. "It would be weird if I went and did it by myself and didn't tell her."
