When a remarkable family gave birth to two sets of twins with varied skin hues, they defied the odds by a million to one.
In 2001, Alison Spooner and Dean Durrant of Hampshire, England, welcomed their first twin girls. Hayleigh shares her father’s dark skin and hair, while Lauren shares her mother’s white skin and light eyes. When Alison gave birth to another set of mixed twin girls seven years later, the family was taken aback.
The younger twins are named Leah and Miya, and they have always looked up to their elder sisters. Hayleigh and Lauren turned 18 in 2019, but their classmates had no idea they were related, let alone twin sisters, when they were in school together. The girls felt unaccepted as a result, and they had to learn to value their individuality.
Despite the fact that they don’t appear alike, both sets of twins are quite close and share many characteristics. They have similar interests and will often finish each other’s sentences. They’ve grown closer as a result of their shared experiences of not fitting in and being called liars for pretending to be twins by their classmates.
This family appreciates their miraculous twins. It’s one in 500 that a set of twins will be born with differing skin tones. The chances of two sets of twins being born at the same time are considered to be one in a million. Continue reading to learn more about this amazing family and what it was like for the kids to grow up as multiracial twins.
Despite the fact that the girls were not bullied as children, they still felt out of place. The following is what Hayleigh told The Sun:
“There are some folks that are quite disrespectful. ‘You’re lying, you’re not twins – prove it!’ they’ll say. As a result, we’ll recite the same address or take out our passports. It’s amusing to witness people’s expressions of surprise. It was tough for us to adjust to college because there were numerous groupings of Asian, white, and black students. ‘This is my white twin sister,’ I said as the black gang tried to incorporate me. No one could believe what they were hearing. People look at us as if it were a miracle.”
“I can’t believe my miracle babies are turning 18,” Alison, the girls’ mother, stated in 2019. Apart from their appearances, they are best friends and extremely close in every manner. It took me a long time to figure out how they could look so dissimilar. ‘They are not twins,’ people say all the time. ‘I just assumed one was yours and the other was her buddy,’ one lady at the doctor’s office once commented.
“They were never actually bullied,” Alison said, “but there were some harsh comments at first.” ‘How come one of you is milk chocolate and the other is white chocolate?” ‘It doesn’t matter, we’re sisters and best friends,’ the girls used to say. I felt incredibly proud of them. With their buddies, they’ve become more of a phenomenon. In biology class, their school used to have a large image of them. No one could comprehend or accept it.”
The girls have always been close. Hayleigh said, “At primary school, all I wanted to do was be with my sister. We would share clothes and toys and have the same interest in TV, books, and other stuff. We were like celebrities when we were kids. Everyone wanted pictures with us and would ask us how it felt to be twins but different. To us, it was normal.”
However, they also have unique interests. “We are so similar in some ways. We say the same things at the same time and finish each other’s sentences. Sometimes I know exactly what she is thinking. But we are different – Hayleigh likes make-up, and I like video games and vloggers. She’s not into that,” Lauren explained.
When the girls are apart, they miss each other dearly. Hayleigh shared, “We’ve always slept in the same room, even on holiday. I hate it when Lauren goes to stay with friends, I can’t sleep without her. She’s messy as anything, though, and I’m always tidying up after her. I’m a bit more maternal.”
Sadly, they have to spend more time apart while Hayleigh is at school. “Hayleigh is hoping to go to university next year, and I’m not. That’s going to be huge, me not having her there. It’ll be so weird, but I’ll go and see her a lot,” Lauren explained.
The younger set of twins really looks up to their older sisters. Leah said, “Lauren and Hayleigh are my heroes. I like my older sisters. We want to be like them when we get grown up.”
Miya added, “Lauren and Hayleigh are the best. They teach me that it’s the best thing in the world to have a twin sister, even if you are not identical.”
