Side-by-side photos show identical twins, one of whom smoked and sunbathed for 16 years while the other did not.
Spread on: Reddit and other social media, resurfaced June 2026
The real story
The photos are genuine and come from a 2009 study on facial ageing in identical twins, and the twins did differ in sun exposure. But the study did not say one twin smoked and the other did not, and it did not look at a 16-year period. The viral caption added details the research never claimed.
The fact-checker's verdict: “Miscaptioned”. Our label never goes further than theirs.
Real photos can carry made-up captions; trace an image back to its original source and read what that source actually says.
The receipts
Do photos of identical twins show effects of sun exposure, smoking? Here's the real story ↗
Snopes · 2026-06-19
