Forbidden Twins
Photography : Marie Genel / stories and text : Catherine Faye and Sarah Elkaïm
In south east Madagascar, in the Mananjary region, twins are seen as a curse. According to an ancestral belief, they are thought to bring bad luck, and are abandoned at birth. Even today, they are left in the wild, in the bush or on the beaches. But thanks to the work of two orphanages, the new-borns are being taken in more and more. The CATJA (Centre d´Accueil et de Transit des Jumeaux Abandonnés - the abandoned twin welcome and transit shelter in English), has enabled hundreds of children to be saved thanks to its centres in the most remote villages, where the custom is still the strongest. This orphanage has even been accredited for international adoptions. The other orphanage in the town has a policy of keeping the twins until they come of age by working to get them rehabilitated into society. Their initiatives haven't forced the king of the town to give in however, who says that he would rather 'slit his throat' than give up this custom. The UN, who have already criticised Madagascar for these abandonments, have still not managed to put an end to the practice. For the past few years, more and more parents are nevertheless refusing to give up their new-born babies. But they are then rejected by their own families and, once pushed out of the town, are condemned to bring up their children ostracised from the community.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182569 Non-identical twins in the "Marie-Christelle" centre, one of the orphanages in Mananjary. They are also thought to bring bad luck.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0215235 The "Marie-Christelle' centre in Mananjary, has around 50 children, of whom almost half are twins.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182611 Unlike the CATJA orphanage, the "Marie Christelle' centre doesn't give children up for adoption. Its goal is to help twins build their future in their own country.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182610 Sylvestre Rakotomalala, 54 years old, claims he is a "victim of tradition". His first children, twins, were snatched from him at birth. He was 27. Sylvestre now runs the social and medical "Marie Christelle" centre in Mananjary.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0215229 The entrance to CATJA, in Mananjary. This orphanage was set up to take in abandoned twins. Since 1987 they have taken in around 300.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182621 At the CATJA orphanage. Diari and Dino, 8 months old.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182615 Julie Rasoarimanana, 41 years old, runs the CATJA orphanage, and has been fighting for 20 years to abolish this tradition. "No Antambohoakan mother has abandoned her twins without suffering the most terrible wrench", explains this 'mother of 500 children'.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0215228 At the CATJA orphanage. Bath time.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182590 At the CATJA orphanage. A nap.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0215225 The twins are never separated. At the CATJA orphanage they share the same cot. They will be adopted together into French or Malgasy families.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182586 When the twins are babies they share the same cot.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182632 At the CATJA orphanage. Nomena and Narovana, 1 and a half years old, were abandoned at birth. Their parents live 4 kms from the orphanage and have never been to see them.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0181872 Meal time at the CATJA orphanage. STRICT EDITORIAL USAGE CONFORM TO CAPTION AND CONTEXT. WITH SIGNED OR ORAL MODEL/PROPERTY RELEASE. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. |
Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182619 Appolo and Antonio, 4 months old.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0215224 This premature baby is 3 days old and weighs 1.5 kg. He and his brother were born in an isolated village in the bush, 30 kms away, or two days by dugout from Mananjary.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0215226 Geneviève, 31 years old, was a child in the CATJA orphanage. When she had her own twins, she came and lived with them in the orphanage. She now works there full-time.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182576 There are many taboos, or 'fady', in the Malgasy culture. The taboo on twins is the most formidable.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182604 Eudoxie, 36 years old, left her twins at birth. She nevers speaks about the pain she felt, but for her mother, who she lives with, "throwing out twins is like throwing out the rubbish".
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0181870 At the birth of her twins, Marie-Elisa stood up to the midwife who wanted to take them away from her. She lives with her children in a house away from the town. Her neighbours have put up a fence so that the twins won't come into their house. Her family refuses to see her. STRICT EDITORIAL USAGE CONFORM TO CAPTION AND CONTEXT. WITH SIGNED OR ORAL MODEL/PROPERTY RELEASE. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. |
Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0181856 Arsene with a photo of his twins who are now 14.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182599 In amongst other family photos, is one of Iona, Arsene's abandoned twin, with her French foster parents.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0180587 The king of Mananjary at the door of his 'Tragnobe' (sacred house). Twins are not allowed to enter. STRICT EDITORIAL USAGE CONFORM TO CAPTION AND CONTEXT. WITH SIGNED OR ORAL MODEL/PROPERTY RELEASE. Infos : +33(0)143 15 63 53. |
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182601 The king, spiritual leader of Mananjary, and his advisors.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182603 Even if he tolerates the presence of twins in his circle, he would rather "slit his own throat than accept a law that that would put an end to this practice".
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182602 Erlyse and Romuald, 26 years old, didn't want to be separated from their twins. They were pushed out by their families and had to leave the house they had bought.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182616 Romuald and Erlyse with their twins, a girl and a boy.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182575 Marie-Elisa's children, Eli John's Roy and Eli John's Royey, 4 years old, go to catholic school. The nuns offer their support to their mother.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182583 When her twins were born, Marie-Elisa stood up to the midwife who wanted to take them away from her. She now lives with her children in a house away from the town. Her neighbours have built a fence so that the twins will never come to their house. Her family refuses to see her.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182631 For Victorine, a neighbour, the 'fady' concerning twins is archaic. She looks after the twins when Erlyse works on the markets.
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Marie Genel / Picturetank GEM0182593 Romuald is ready to demonstrate in the street to stop the tradition of abandoning twins.
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