Black and White Twins
Netlore Archive: Emailed images show a pair of twin sisters - one black, the other white - born to a British couple who both had mixed-race parents.
Description: Viral images
Circulating since: Feb. 2006
Status: Authentic (see details below)
Example:
Email contributed by Stacey B., March 1, 2006:
|
Subject: AMAZING TWINS...WOW!
A mixed-race British mom gave birth to twins recently - one of each. No, not a boy and a girl. Two girls - one black, the other white. The odds of such a birth are about a million to one, experts said. 
(Images credited to Gary Roberts) |
Analysis: The preceding images, all credited in online news stories to freelance photographer Gary Roberts, are authentic, as are the subjects, twins Kian and Remee Hodgson of Nottingham, England.
According to a February 21, 2006 article in the London Daily Mail, Kian, who is dark-skinned and dark-haired, and Remee, who is light-skinned and fair-haired, were born in April 2005 to Kylie and Remi Hodgson, who themselves were born to mixed-race parents.
While very rare, the phenomenon is not unknown, though it does entail a very particular combination of circumstances at the moment of conception. First, both parents must be of mixed race. Second, the twins must be fraternal (each conceived from a separate egg fertilized by separate sperm) as opposed to identical (both conceived from a single egg and sperm). Third, each sperm and egg must carry the genes for a particular skin color (i.e., black/black or white/white).
The odds against it are indeed a million to one.
Share This Article
Sources and further reading:
Black and White Twins
The Daily Mail, 21 February 2006Meet My Twin Sister
NY Daily News, 22 February 2006
Last updated: 04/13/12
