If you paid attention in science class in high school, you likely remember the discussion on genetics. It seemed so nice and easy, because everything worked according to a simple chart. Right?
Actually, genetics can go off the chart sometimes and you never know what you can expect. That is why we sometimes end up with a redhead in the family when nobody can remember a redhead before.
It’s also something that Dean Durrant is well familiar with. He is West Indian in heritage, so he has dark hair and skin.
In 2001, Dean and his wife, Allison Spooner, welcomed fraternal twins into the world. It’s also important to remember that Allison has light hair and skin.
The twins were born early, and Hayleigh and Lauren came as somewhat of a surprise. The family knew that they were having twins, but they were surprised when it came to the color.
Lauren resembled her mother, with light hair and skin. Hayleigh looked more like her father, with dark hair and skin. This is not out of the question, but it is rare it only happens in about one out of every 500,000 births.
When you fast forward seven years, Allison gave birth to another set of paternal twins. They had complexions that were very similar to their sisters.
Miya has darker skin and hair. This is something that is certainly rare, and it is the only documented case of all time when two sets of fraternal twins were born with different skin tones from the same parents. They even won a place in the Guinness World Records.
According to a doctor from Britain’s Royal College of General Practitioners, even fraternal twins that don’t have these genetic differences are rare. It is less common to have them from parents of mixed races and have the two eggs fertilized and come out different colors is even more rare. The odds of having it happen twice must be in the millions.
Hayleigh and Lauren grew up to be close to each other, and they gave an interview on their 18th birthday to describe what it was like to grow up in this way.
Hayleigh said that nobody could believe it and people look at them as if they were some type of miracle. The mother added that it took a number of years to understand the science of how this could happen.
Both of the girls felt like celebrities growing up because so much attention was in their direction.
The younger twins grew up to have more of a resemblance to each other but they still try to copy their big sisters.
Genetics are incredible, and this is just one example of how they can shape our world in unique ways.