Identical Twins Married Identical Twins. Here's What Happened Next
Their sons are genetically brothers as well as first cousins.
When identical twins Brittany and Briana Deane met identical twins Jeremy and Josh Salyers in 2017, it was meant to be—after a year of dating, the Deanes and Salyerses got married. Now they live in one house, work together, and have two sons, Jett and Jax, born five months apart. "It's a pretty unique situation, but to us it seems really natural," Briana says. Here's how they make this unorthodox family setup work.
Brittany and Briana met Jeremy and Josh at the annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio. The Deane twins were hoping to find eligible identical twins to marry, and it clearly worked out.
"When we stopped to talk, there was an immediate connection," Josh, now 38, says. "I was attracted to Briana and Josh was attracted to Brittany. We exchanged phone numbers with each other and started to talk regularly via phone and social media." Josh and Jeremy made trips from their home in Tennessee to visit the sisters near Twin Lakes State Park, Virginia. "Both of us always knew that we wanted to marry twins," Jeremy says. "We'd decided that if we couldn't find twins to marry, then we just wouldn't get married." The Deanes felt the same way. "Ever since we were little girls, we'd always dreamed of marrying identical twin brothers," Briana said.
"It seemed like a perfect next step because it really does take a pair of twins to understand the special relationship of twins," Brittany added.
Josh and Jeremy proposed to Brittany and Briana at the same time on Feb. 2, 2018—with identical diamond rings. "We each got down on our knees [to propose]," Josh said. "It couldn't have been more romantic," said Briana. "The date that they proposed to us was perfect," Brittany added. "You can't do better than 02-02 to represent a double proposal and a double marriage." The Deanes and Salyerses returned to the Twins Days festival to get married—wearing identical outfits, of course.
Now the four Salyerses all live together in one house at Smith Mountain Manor, a lakeside wedding venue they run as a family business, with Josh and Jeremy working as the primary operators. Meanwhile Brittany and Briana both work as attorneys four days a week for a Roanoke law firm. "We do everything together, so it just made sense that we would all live together," Jeremy said. "We have the fortune of combining resources in an environment that allows everyone time to work, explore creative projects and time to parent," Briana added.
"Each of us gets to spend time with the children, one's own spouse, one's own twin and with the group as a whole."
Brittany and Briana both sadly suffered miscarriages with their first pregnancies. "It was one of the most painful things I had gone through, both physically and emotionally," Brittany said. "Then to watch my twin go through a miscarriage was painful as well, and it was also hard for Josh and Jeremy." Eventually, Brittany and Briana got pregnant five months apart. Because of their relationship, their two sons are genetically brothers as well as first cousins.
"It's important that we all get along — and we do," Josh said. "That's what keeps everything afloat." "Having plenty of space for alone time is important, too, Jeremy adds. "Probably the best part about our situation, though, is that if you're upset, you don't have to be alone. There's always somebody to talk to." So what's next for the couples? They both want more children—perhaps even twins!— but are in no rush. "We're also looking ahead to our boys turning 2," Brittany says.
