Mom’s Twins Are Different 18 Years Later, They’re Unrecognizable

Twins are supposed to look the same, dress the same, and talk the same, right? Even if you eliminate the matching attire and the same personalities, you’ll probably still be able to discern a set of twins within a crowd. Well, the story of these biracial twins proves just how different twins can look and act that you wouldn’t even believe they are twins, let alone siblings. Read here to change your whole perspective on twins and genetics.

1. Exciting News

Donna and Vince Aylmer, from Gloucester, England, were thrilled to expand their existing family of five members to six with another addition on the way. Donna, a 49-year-old warehouse worker, made her way to the doctor with her husband Vince, a 55-year-old scaffolder, for their first routine checkup and ultrasound.

Naturally, the couple were happy and a bit nervous, but didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary, especially seeing that they had some practice in the matter. However, they were totally oblivious to the news they were about to receive.

2. Not One, But Two Tiny Tots

The Aylmers were informed by the doctor that they were expecting not one, but two little babies to join their growing family. Donna was relieved to hear that they were healthy and developing normally, but the news came as a bit of a shock for other sound reasons.

With three kids named George, Chynna, and Jordan already at home, twins sounded like a bit of a handful. However, this didn’t stop the happy couple from celebrating this news as the biggest blessing. The catch was that they had no idea as to what kind of blessing they were about to receive.

3. The Surprise!

On January 16, 1997, Donna gave birth to a set of beautiful and healthy twins, but when the midwife handed her the babies she was completely speechless and also somewhat confused. But her reaction was quite normal given the circumstances.

Embraced in one of Donna’s arms was a twin with a snow white complexion accented by deep blue eyes and ginger hair whom she called Lucy. Perched in Donna’s other arm was the other twin with sparking brown eyes, matched with a very dark complexion and brown hair. She called her Maria. How could this be possible?

4. Same Same, But Different

As things tend to go with twins, Donna dolled up her girls in matching outfits. As cute as that may be, strangers would stare in confusion because the girls not only didn’t look like twins, they couldn’t look more different if they tried.

With her blue-green eyes and red curly hair, Lucy could pass off as Irish. Maria, on the other hand, has features that most people who hail from the Caribbean islands possess: dark skin and eyes, as well as curly brown hair. If this sounds very different, just wait to see what they look like today.

5. A Sense of Identity

At the tender age of seven, the twins told their mother they didn’t want to dress in the same outfits anymore. They didn’t understand why they had to sport the exact same clothes if it was as clear as day that they looked nothing alike.

The girls told their mother that they didn’t even feel like twins because of how different they looked and felt, so they preferred to dress differently as well. It was from that moment that the girls established their own sense of identity, but that came with its own set of difficulties as well.

6. No Playing Tricks This Time

The twins were placed in the same class at school, however, no one had any difficulty telling them apart. This meant the girls couldn’t swap names or their homework, or play tricks on their teacher and classmates like twins often do.

On the one hand Lucy and Maria were happy to be identified as individuals, but on the other hand they couldn’t enjoy the usual perks of being twins. In saying that, one can easily identify the difference between identical twins because of their very different personality traits. As Lucy and Maria got older, they would open up about just how different they really are–not just in their distinctive looks.

7. Like Night and Day

When the girls turned 18, their unusual story piqued the interest of several news outlets. Lucy told the Inside Edition about their complete opposite personalities. “Maria was outgoing whilst I was the shy one,” said Lucy. Maria agreed and said that as they grew older, Lucy came out of her shell a bit more.

Lucy preferred to steer clear of strangers, while Maria was always confident enough to walk up to strangers and strike up a conversation. These differences between them meant that as young girls, the twins weren’t the closest, but that changed when they grew older. So what are the twins up to today? Read on to find out.

8. Personal Qualms

Both Lucy and Maria didn’t like certain attributes about themselves. Maria hated her curly hair and used to cry about it often. Lucy hated her pale skin because kids used to tease her for looking like a ghost and being the adopted one in the family.

Lucy would try reason with herself and others as to where she got her pale skin from, and she concluded that she inherited her English rose complexion from her grandmother. She also started to straighten her hair as she got older because it was also naturally curly, but she never had ringlets like Maria. But that’s not all.

9. Has There Been Some Kind of Mistake?

The Aylmers had created a set of biracial twins and didn’t even know it. Obviously, skin tone and color don’t show up in an ultrasound, so there was no way of their knowing this was going to happen. Not to mention that the chances of having biracial twins are about one in 500.

On the other hand, the Aylmers’ other kids, George, Chynna, and Jordan are of a dark complexion, but not as dark as Maria and definitely much darker than Lucy. Continue reading to find out more about the unusual twin sisters and to discover how this phenomenon came to be.

10. How Is This Possible?

Biracial twins have to stem from parents with different ethnicities and races. Vince is of Caucasian descent, while Donna is a half Jamaican and half white, so it makes sense that their three older kids have a mixed skin tone.

What came as the surprise of a lifetime was that Lucy and Maria possessed completely different skin colors and looked nothing alike. Despite being twins, it seemed like Donna had given birth to complete strangers. But how is that even possible?

11. The Science of Biracial Twins

Lucy and Maria are called non-identical twins because they formed from separate eggs in the womb. This means that they didn’t inherit the exact same genes as one another, and it was a complete luck of the draw as to who would get what skin color.

In Lucy and Maria’s case, the probability of one twin coming out light and the other dark was higher than other cases because of mother Donna’s mixed lineage. She carried the gene for both white and black skin, so there was an increased chance of her passing on a white gene to at least one twin. Besides for skin color, just how different did Lucy and Maria really turn out?

12. Growing Older

Besides for the stark difference in their appearance and personalities, Lucy and Maria developed their own sense of style. Lucy enjoys dressing with edgy and dark makeup and piercings, whereas Maria dresses in a more sophisticated fashion with a bit of a boho twist.

Lucy confessed to the Inside Edition that all the differences between them did affect how close they were when they were young. She admitted that perhaps if they looked the same and it looked like they shared the same parents, they might have been closer. However, this doesn’t mean that the bond between them isn’t stronger than ever today.

13. The Sisterly Bond

“Now we have grown older, even though we still look so different, the bond between us is much stronger,” Lucy emphasized during the interview with Inside Edition. The twins said that today they aren’t only twin sisters, but also best friends.

Maria is proud of telling everyone she has a white twin, while Lucy feels blessed that she can tell everyone that her sister isn’t the same color as her. However, just like it took them a good few years to get used to the fact that they were different, it seems like some other people struggle with the idea too. But what are the girls are up to today?

14. College Days

Embracing their differences is their mode of living. The Aylmer twins haven’t only embraced a different sense of style, they also embarked on totally distinct career paths. Lucy enrolled at Gloucester as an art and design student, while Maria is studying law at Cheltenham College.

They do boast about each other and talk fondly of one another, and this encouraged lots of media interest in them. Despite that, this doesn’t mean that people always accept them for who they are — read on to find out more.

15. With Friends Like These…

After the twins’ interviews with several media outlets, a few of their friends at college were really impressed with their unusual story, while others refused to believe it. Maria told Inside Edition that someone asked her if she’s really a twin when she showed her a picture of Lucy.

Only after the television interview did some of their friends start to believe that it was in fact true, Lucy and Maria were biracial twins! However, Maria said they are used to skeptics. People are used to twins looking alike, and even if they dress the same, it’s still hard for some to believe they’re even related.

16. Identification, Please!

Even some of the twins’ close friends have had a hard time believing their atypical story. As a test of their friendship, some have even asked Lucy and Maria to produce their birth certificates in order to prove they are twins.

It just goes to show how uncommon the phenomenon of biracial twins really is, and how hard it is for people to accept it–even their friends. Maria jokingly said, “These friends sure don’t have a lot of trust …” when she spoke with Inside Edition. But do they share any twin-like traits at all?

17. A Psychic Bond

Both Lucy and Maria agree that they were never close growing up and always felt like worlds apart from each other. However, during the interview with Inside Edition, they were asked if they share the stereotypical psychic bond that all twins claim to possess.

They admitted that they don’t really “feel” that psychic bond most twins talk about, however, they do sometimes experience the same physical pains in the same spots. So maybe they do have this bond, and they’re not even aware of it. And that’s not all.

18. More Similar Than They Think

Lucy and Maria might contrast one another in many ways and celebrate their differences through fashion and style, but they seem to be more similar than they think. At 18, both could pass off as models with tall and slender physiques.

If you look closely, beyond the color of their hair and eyes, there are some strong similarities between Maria and Lucy. They also take comfort in the fact that they will always have each other’s backs no matter if they look the same or not. If you thought they were the only biracial twins, wait until you read about this next awesome twosome!

19. Not the Only Ones

Marcia and Millie Biggs are another pair of biracial twins. In contrast to Maria and Lucy, these twin sisters are really close in style and manner, and walk to school hand in hand. They even jaunt about sporting the same hairstyle.

They both enjoy gymnastics and dance, and share an interest and skill in science and mathematics. While it’s clear that beyond the matching lunch packs, uniforms, and hairstyles, the girls aren’t identical, they definitely do share some similar physical attributes.

20. And Another Pair…

Twins Kalani and Jarani Dean are also biracial twins. Their mother is white and their dad is black, and as a result, Kalani came out fair skinned while Jarani inherited brown skin. Their mother, Whitney Meyer, considers her daughters a symbol against racism.

Meyer believes that this genetic phenomenon can create social awareness about how trivial skin color really is. She told Today magazine, “They’re the same girl, just different colors.” Just like Maria’s and Lucy’s mother, Meyer was also so surprised when they were born because the odds of giving birth to biracial twins are so rare.

21. An Unexpected Surprise

Parents Joanne and Larry had wondered, prior to the birth of their twins, whether they would take after their mother more or their father more. Joanne is white, and Larry is black. What they certainly didn’t expect, was to have one of each.

At first, the differences between the two twins were subtle. But as time went by it started to become more and more apparent that the two had completely different skin tones. “No one ever believes they are twins because they don’t look alike at all. They don’t even look like brother and sister, let alone twins,” their mother said.

22. One in a Million

This set of twins, Kian and Remee, were born just a minute apart. Both of their parents, Kylee and Remi, come from families that had white mothers and black fathers, giving them a mixed genetic makeup and a very rare set of twins.

According to science, these twins are one in a million. One of the girls is black with brown eyes, while the other girl is blonde with blue eyes. Their parents say that while the twins shared the same first word, ‘juice,’ the girls couldn’t be more different.

23. The Opposite Brothers

James and Daniel are fraternal twins and apart from sharing the same parents, they have nothing in common with each other. James is black, gay, outgoing and enjoys school while his brother Daniel is white, straight, shy and doesn’t enjoy school in the least.

Their mother is white, while their father, Errol, is Jamaican which explains the possibility of having children with skin tone variations. Most Caribbean people, while dark-skinned, also carry European DNA. “It was hard to believe they were even brothers, let alone twins,” their mother Alyson said.