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Black and White Twins - Analysis


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Part 1: Text & Photos

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.


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Sources and further reading:

Black and White Twins
The Daily Mail, 21 February 2006

Meet My Twin Sister
NY Daily News, 22 February 2006


Last updated: 10/14/11


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