Lucy
and Maria Aylmer, 18, from Gloucester are non-identical twins. One has
straight ginger hair, a fair complexion and deep blue eyes. The other
has masses of curls, far darker skin and her eyes are a sparkling brown.
With such opposing looks it’s hard to believe this striking pair are
sisters. But they are much more than that – they are twins. The girls
were born with radically different colouring thanks to a quirk of their
mixed-race parentage. Lucy and Maria Aylmer’s mother Donna is half
Jamaican and their father Vince is white, and together they managed to
produce one white twin and one black twin.
The
girls were born in January 1997. Their mother, who is 47 and a
warehouse worker, and their 53-year-old father, who works as a
scaffolder, split up after the twins were born.
Fair-haired Lucy, who lives with her family in Gloucester, said:
Fair-haired Lucy, who lives with her family in Gloucester, said:
‘It was such a shock for my mum because things like skin colour don’t show up on scans before birth. So she had no idea that we were so different. When the midwife handed us both to her she was just speechless.’
The 18-year-olds have three older siblings, George, 23, Chynna, 22, and Jordan, 21. Lucy continued:
‘Our brothers and sisters have skin which is inbetween Maria and I. We are at opposite ends of the spectrum and they are all somewhere inbetween.
‘But my grandmother has a very fair English rose complexion, just like mine.
No one ever believes we are twins. Even when we dress alike, we still don’t look like sisters, let alone twins. Friends have even made us produce our birth certificates to prove it. Twins are known for swapping identities. But there was no way Maria and I could ever do anything like that.
Most twins look like two peas in a pod – but we couldn’t look more different if we tried. We don’t look like we have the same parents, let alone having been born at the same time.’
The
twins’ interests are as different as their looks. Lucy studies art and
design at Gloucester College whilst Maria studies law at Cheltenham
College.
Lucy explained: ‘Maria was outgoing whilst I was the shy one. But Maria loves telling people at college that she has a white twin – and I’m very proud of having a black twin.’
Lucy explained: ‘Maria was outgoing whilst I was the shy one. But Maria loves telling people at college that she has a white twin – and I’m very proud of having a black twin.’
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