Neubauer’s Defense
According to Dr. Neubauer, separating the twins and triplets from his study was justified, as he claimed in 1997 that they would have been split up anyway for adoption. He said that the adoption agency approached him, and he used their policies as an opportunity to do his study.
Source: Daily Mail
The study was both privately and publicly funded; they got financial support from the National Institutes of Health and other independent grants. And if you’re wondering if this sort of study is even legal, apparently it was. Despite the questionable ethics, it didn’t violate any laws or regulations during its run. All the birth mothers signed off on the separation of their babies. In fact, the state of New York didn’t begin requiring adoption agencies to keep siblings together until 1981.