Like most twins, they are dressed alike, right down to their pink and white bootees. But Kendall and Baylee are no ordinary twins – they are one in a million!
An amazing quirk of genetics means that one sister has black skin and the other is white. The effect is so striking that even their own parents have said it is hard to believe that they are related.
As non-identical twins, they were created when two eggs were fertilized by two sperm. This means they have inherited different genes from their parents as their father, Curtis Martin, is half-Jamaican, while their mother is white.
Normally, you would assume both to inherit a mix of black and white genes and be born with a similar skin tone. But, in odds of a million to one, Baylee has inherited a set of genes for white skin. And Kendall’s genetic inheritance includes some genes that code for black skin, passed on from her mixed-race father.
The twins also have very different characters. Kendall, who weighed 6lb 1oz, is very laid-back and likes nothing more than to sleep the day away, while, Baylee, who was slightly heavier at 6lb 5oz, is ‘loud and needy’ and loves attention.
Their parents stated that this could come in useful, as she and her sister are already attracting attention wherever they go.
“When people look in the pram and see that one is darker than the other, they will sometimes be a bit thrown and ask if they are twins,” said their mother, a 28-year-old delivery driver for Asda. “They are shocked when we say yes.”
Whereas, their father, a 24-year-old builder from Kingswinford in the West Midlands said that everybody loves their adorable baby twin girls.
“We’ve got used to it but you hear people whisper as we walk past,” he continued. “If I saw them out, I don’t think I’d believe they were related.”
Meanwhile, Allan Pacey, a Sheffield University fertility doctor, said that just as twins can have different hair or eyes, they can also be born with skin of different colors.
And just as a baby’s hair often changes with age, with blonde hair, for instance, darkening, the twins’ skin may yet change. This could lead to them looking more similar – or even more different.
Professor Pacey also explained the girls’ contrasting skin colors are caused by the way their parents’ genes were shuffled before being passed on.
“This shuffling has created something that is completely unexpected and throws us but it is just nature’s way of making us diverse,” he said.
SHARE. INFORM. AMAZE.
[Source: MailOnline | Images via David Crump]
0 comments:
Post a Comment