Twin sisters—one Black, one White—turn heads in England

Jet, March 27, 2006 by Gary Roberts

When strangers stop to admire Kylee Hodgson's twins, they do more than a double take.

For the little girls don't even look like sisters-let alone twins. Despite being conceived together in their mother's womb and being born within a minute of each other, Kian Hodgson's skin is Black yet her sister Remee is White.

The amazing conception happened after two eggs were fertilized at the same time in Miss Hodgson's womb.

Both Miss Hodgson and her partner Remi HoMer, 17, who works in a gym/swimming pool complex, are of mixed race. Their mothers are both White and their fathers are both Black. Baby Kian inherited the Black genes from both sides of the family, while her sister Remee inherited the White ones.

Miss Hodgson, 19, from Nottingham, England, said: "It is the same whenever I go out with my babies.

"Nobody can believe they are twins and I have to assure everyone who stops to admire them that they are."

Miss Hodgson discovered she was pregnant in the summer of 2004, and a scan at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham revealed that the couple were expecting twins.

Miss Hodgson, said: "It was a shock at first to discover I was expecting as I hadn't been trying for a family.

"I had my 14-week scan and the sonographer ran the scanner over my stomach and announced that I was carrying twins. We couldn't believe it. Neither of us could take our eyes off the scanner-you could just see two of everything, even the outline of their little noses. We were both overwhelmed."

The twins were born by caesarean section in April last year as one twin was lying in an awkward position in the womb-and that's when Miss Hodgson got the shock of her life. Remee arrived first, weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces, then followed a minute later by Kian, weighing 6 pounds.

Miss Hodgson said: "I didn't see them at first. They were both whisked away to be checked over and then the midwife came back and placed both in my arms.

I noticed that both of them had beautiful blue eyes, but while Remee's hair was a blonde color, Klan's was Black and she had darker skin. It seemed strange, but I was feeling so ill from the caesarean operation, that I didn't really take it in at that stage. All that mattered was my precious daughters had arrived safely."

But the Miss Hodgson mentioned the color difference to her mother.

She added: "I said to my mother that Remee's skin was a lot lighter, and she told me that it would get darker as she got older. I had just assumed that both our babies would have the same skin tone as Remee and myself."

Both the babies were allowed home from the hospital after four days and didn't need any treatment.

But as the weeks passed, Remee's skin grew lighter, while Kian's got darker. And while Remee's eyes stayed blue, Kian's turned brown.

"It was a shock when I realized that my twins were two different colors. And whenever I took them out in the buggy, strangers would always stop and ask me about them. Often people don't believe that Kian is my baby, which can be quite upsetting sometimes."

The doctors have never explained to Miss Hodgson why the color difference has occurred.

There has never been any siblings or twins in either of their families, where one is White and the other is Black.

But according to the Multiple Births Foundation, it can occur if two eggs are fertilized at the same time and one inherits the White genes and the other Black genes.

Jan Denton from the Foundation said: "It is very rare. But it is possible for one sibling to be Black and the other White if they have mixed-race parents."

Despite their color differences, the girls have an incredibly strong bond between them.

Miss Hodgson said: "If they haven't seen each other for a few hours, they are so pleased to see each other and will hold out their arms, wanting to hug each other. And their smiles just light up their faces.

"There are some similarities between them-they both love apples and grapes, and their favorite television program is the Teletubbies.

"But not only are they a different color, they have different personalities too. Kian is more laid back and loves her sleep. Remee is the active one and she's almost crawling too.

"I'll explain it all to them when they get older about why they look so different, but I don't think it will matter to them as they are growing up together.

"Their different colors doesn't matter to us and never has-they are just our two gorgeous little girls."--By worldwidefeatures.com/LucyLaing --Photos by worldwidefeatures.com/