26 July,2010 08:08 AM IST | | Agencies
Mom of twins born twenty minutes apart -- one black and one white, says the two cannot be more different in personality
They look like friends who met at nursery school but Kaydon and Layton Richardson are in fact twin brothers with different-coloured skin.
The boys have celebrated their fourth birthday in the same week black parents Ben and Angela Ihegboro revealed their white daughter Nmachi to the world.
Odd boys out
The genetic quirks make the children 'two-in-a-million' rarities that have fascinated doctors.
After hearing of the Ihegboro family's incredible baby news, Kaydon and Layton's mother Kerry said skin colour had been on her mind when giving birth to daughter Tiyannah recently.
"I thought it was crazy. As much as it happened to me, the twins'u00a0 dad is white, so for it to happen to a black couple seems even stranger," she said.
"When I was carrying Tiyannah I was wondering what colour she was going to be. Before the twins I would have expected that any child of mine would have myu00a0 colour in them. But after Layton I wasn't sure what she was going to look like."
When she was born she looked as though she was going to go dark but at aboutu00a0 two-weeks-old it was clear she was white.
"I was a little surprised as I thought Layton was a one-off."u00a0
"Doctors can tell you what sex your baby is going to be but they can't tell youu00a0 what colour!"
The 32-year-old, who is of English-Nigerian heritage, also fears the twins will stand out when they start primary school in September.
She said, "It's never been an issue up to now but, I know that Layton notices the difference in their colour.u00a0 "I've tried to explain it to them in the past but last year we were in anu00a0 airport in America when Layton shouted, "Mum, I am white like my dad and Kaydon's black like you?"
Polarities apart
Kerry admits she is often surprised by the differences in their personalityu00a0 especially when it comes to Kaydon.u00a0
He is hyper and excitable whereas Layton can be moody and stubborn. Kaydonu00a0 is into arty stuff and jigsaws and Layton is crazy about superheroes.
At Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup, South East London, doctors confirmed baby Nmachi is not an albino.
Father Ben Ihegboro (44), a customer services adviser, admitted that when he saw the baby, he exclaimed, "What the flip?" before joking: "Is she mine?"
Mother Angela said, "She is beautiful, a miracle baby."
Despite jokingly asking whether he was the father, Igegboro said, "Of course she is mine. My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn't been, the baby wouldn't have looked like that!"
The boys were 20 minutes apart in 2006, with fair-skinned Layton born before Kaydon, who was much darker.
Rare case
At the time, international clinical geneticist Dr Stephen Withers said the likelihood of a mixed race woman having eggs that were predominantly for one skin colour was rare enough, let alone releasing two of them simultaneously and producing twins.
"It's probably a million to one chance," he said.
Their mother added, "You couldn't find two twins who are more different."
Did you know?
Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner have two sets of interracial twins -- one pair in 2001 and the second pair in 2009
