Mark Arena

Australian twin boys born to Italian writer Franca Arena, Mark Umberto at 7:00 PM and Adrian Francesco five minutes later. The twins appear to be identical in photographs. Their mother is an Italian-born Australian ex-parliamentarian who remains a zealous anti-pedophile crusader. (b. 23rd August, 1937, Genoa, Italy). Franca wrote, "Our twin sons, Mark and Adrian, were our best friends, and my husband, Joe, and I missed their company and intelligent conversation after they went traveling overseas in 1989, when they were 23. After going to the United States, Britain and Italy, they settled in Paris, where they taught English." Returning home to Sydney on 11/11/1990, both boys told their parents that they were gay and had same sex relationships. Considering the poor reception they received after their announcement, they soon left home. Catholic Arena later told a journalist, "It would have been easier if only one of them had been gay, but both of them being gay and our only sons is a matter of great sorrow for my husband and I." Franca and Joe rented a holiday apartment on the Gold Coast that Christmas but the twins refused to go, or even to contact them on the day. Arena claims that she then contemplated committing suicide, a feeling that continued on her return to Sydney. In her autobiography Arena writes: "Joe and I are now reconciled with our sons, whom we love and accept for what they are. The healing process started years ago and was based entirely on the immense love we have for one another. The fact that our sons are gay is not important to us anymore. What is important is that they are both good men: intelligent, capable and honest, with real values." The twins now live permanently overseas.