A worldwide search for “birthday twins” – people who share birth dates with 23 Belgian men and women – has turned its attention to Maine.

Researchers for Woestijnvis Production Co. hope to show what life would have been like for the Belgians if they’d been born somewhere else, such as India, Chile, South Africa or central Maine.

“It’s just one of those questions everyone asks at some point: What would my life have been like if I’d been born in another country?” said Cemil Belek, a member of the research team. “It started with that kind of a conversation, but we’re trying to actually get an answer.”

Belek said the company expects the series to air over eight weeks on Belgian public television beginning in 2009 before they make it available to other countries.

The production team selected 16 Belgian men and seven Belgian women with interesting lives, backgrounds or jobs. Next, they want to find people who share birth dates with their subjects, no matter where they are in the world.

“We’ve just finished shooting a piece in South Africa, and then at the end of May we go to Chile,” Belek said. “After that, we go to Newfoundland.”

Now the company is looking for Americans. It plans to bring the production here to look for parallels and contrasts to Belgian life.

So far, the company has contacted newspapers in Alaska, California, Texas, Alabama and Maine looking for birth-date twins.

“We’re hoping to find some people with the same birthday, that we can learn more about and see what kind of person they are,” Belek said. The producers are looking for individuals who have interesting backgrounds or stories to tell.

“For example, the guy we’re visiting in Newfoundland works for a search and rescue team,” Belek said. “The lives these people have don’t have to be unusual or fantastic. We want common, ordinary people because they can have interesting lives. But we want to see what they have in common, and what is different. That’s what makes it interesting.”

Maine’s birthday twins should e-mail their names and phone numbers to the company at [email protected]. Researchers will compile a list of potential candidates and interview them over the phone. The series’ director will select the final U.S. subjects sometime this year.

Woestijnvis, the production company’s name, refers to an infamous event on the Belgian version of “Wheel of Fortune.” A contestant, trying to solve a puzzle to get “Woestijnvos,” the Flemish word for “Desert Fox,” had nearly solved the puzzle and had one blank space left – the second to last letter. She guessed “Woestijnvis,” which means “Desert Fish.”

In 1999, the company created the concept for a reality series, “The Mole.” Versions of that program were produced and shown in various countries, including the United States.

Belgian birthday twins

Researchers from the Belgian television production company Woestijnvis are looking for Maine men and women born on these dates to be included in a 2009 documentary series, “Twins.” If you see your birthday below, you may contact the company at [email protected].

Women

April 5, 1943

May 2, 1950

July 20, 1963

March 24, 1964

March 26, 1975

Dec. 27, 1979

July 24, 1982

Men

April 29, 1933

July 18, 1948

July 19, 1948

August 20, 1949

Feb. 11, 1952

Jan. 18, 1956

May 5, 1956

Aug. 27, 1958

Dec. 30, 1960

July 24, 1962

Jan. 14, 1965

Jan. 27, 1965

Oct. 5, 1968

Feb. 5, 1969

Dec. 1, 1971

May 3, 1981