4
Genetically, Dominique, Jen, and Christina are as alike as fraternal twins. As for the origins of
and links between their athletic skills, that’s an ongoing debate among researchers, parents, and
coaches hoping to gain insight into how to identify promising athletes and guide them toward
successful careers. Some attribute intragenerational similarities to the opportunities and
encouragement parents give their children. However, athletically talented parents provide
children with both genes and an environment in which to succeed (or not).
When siblings, like Christina and Dominique, are raised together, genes and experience cannot
be separated. Growing up, Christina idolized her sister and was an aspiring gymnast for several
years, a self-described “gym rat” who never wanted to leave the floor. But when her father sold
his family-run gym in Houston, she left the sport, having no interest in training elsewhere.
Christina is not shy about her talent and believes she could have pursued gymnastics in college
or beyond. Instead, she turned to volleyball—and earned a college scholarship.
Did Christina follow Dominique into gymnastics because of her sister’s influence or because of
their shared genes? When sister pairs share genes and opportunities, it is impossible to tell.
Comparing separated siblings like Jen and Dominique tells us more.
Separate Childhoods
Dominique was 6 when her mother was pregnant with Jen, and recalls only that Camelia gained
weight and stayed heavy for a long time. (Christina and Jen are just 22 months apart.) But at the
time, Dominique’s life was already consumed by gymnastics, and her parents were private
people. “Finding Jen has changed these memories,” Dominique says.
Dumitru never consulted his wife about his decision to put Jen up for adoption and arranged the
baby’s placement on his own, Dominique says. She insists that Camelia, who is still alive, should
not feel guilty. In what the Moceanus believed would be a closed adoption with no identifying
information on the paperwork, Sharon and Gerald Bricker of Hardinville, Illinois, took custody
of Jen when she was 3 months old. But somehow, the Moceanus’ names remained on the
adoption papers. Later, when 9-year-old Jen and her family watched the 1995 U.S. national
gymnastics championships and the camera panned over to Dumitru and Camelia, identified as
the parents of the eventual champion, their name rang a bell for Sharon. Checking the adoption
papers, she found the match. Their daughter’s connection to the Moceanus was indisputable, but
the Brickers waited until Jen was 16 before telling her.
By then, their daughter was winning acclaim as a power tumbler, acrobat, and aerialist. She had
been athletic from a young age, climbing trees, jumping on trampolines, and performing
handstands. “I just came out an athlete,” Jen told me when I met all three sisters in Van Nuys,
California, in June. “I was a little monkey.” The Brickers believed Jen could do anything she
chose.
As a gymnast, Jen identified with Dominique and talked about her incessantly. In her letter to
Dominique, she wrote, “Ever since I was about 6 years old, I’ve been obsessed with gymnastics,
and I always watched you on TV. You had been my idol my whole life.” When she learned the
truth about their connection, she says, “It was like watching a movie, only I was in it.”