Tide of Black and White Twins

[Menydh]

Mum defies million-to-one odds to give birth to black and white boys

The Mail on Sunday
October 24, 2006

For every mother with twins the art of telling them apart is a task that can take a lifetime to master. But when Kerry Richardson's sons were born she had no trouble telling them apart instantly.

Layton, who weighed 6lb 4oz, was growing blonde hair and was fair skinned. His brother, Kaydon, who arrived 20 minutes later weighing 6lb 9oz, was black.

"When they were first born, no one really noticed anything unusual as they were both practically the same colour," said 27 year old Miss Richardson.

"But over the last few months Layton has got lighter and blonder, like his dad, and Kaydon has gone darker like me."

The one in a million conception happened after two eggs were fertilised at the same time in the womb. While Miss Richardson is of English-Nigerian heritage the twins' father is white.

According to the Multiple Births Foundation, baby Kaydon must have inherited the black genes from his mother, whilst Layton inherited the white ones from his father.

"Everywhere we go you can see people looking and you can tell they are dying to comment," said Kerry, an administrator. "I have to explain they really are twins and do have the same parents.

"Sometimes I think that it is going to be really weird for them growing up. But I just look at them as being even more special."

The brothers were born at the James Cook University Hospital on July 23, four weeks prematurely.

"I went into hospital at 8.30 am on July 22 and Kaydon and Layton were born the next morning," said Miss Richardson. "Layton was born at 1.40 am and Kaydon was born twenty minutes later at 2am on July 23.

"Everyone who sees them can't believe that they are twins. I have had people say to me 'don't they look alike, they are just like twins' and I have to tell them that they are twins.

"Even then some people take some persuading that I am serious. It was just gradual that we started noticing the difference in their skin colour. But to me it doesn't matter what they look like. They are my little angels and I would love them whatever colour skin they had." Skin colour of a baby is believed to be determined by up to seven different genes working together. If a woman is of mixed race, her eggs will usually contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin. Similarly, a man of mixed race will have a variety of different genes in his sperm. When these eggs and sperm come together, they create a baby of mixed race. But, very occasionally, the egg or sperm might contain genes coding for one skin colour. If both the egg and sperm contain all white genes, the baby will be white. And if both contain just the versions necessary for black skin, the baby will be black.

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.

Richard Fisher, locum consultant in clinical genetics at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, added: “Non-identical twins are better described as brothers who happened to have been conceived at the same time.

"They were formed from two separate eggs and therefore just share 50 per cent of their genes. It is therefore not unusual for there to be a difference in appearance.

"However it is unusual for there to be a significant difference in skin colour and I have never come across a case like this myself."

It comes just days after another mother spoke of her one in a million birth. Twin sisters Alicia and Jasmin Singerl, who were conceived naturally, were born in May and live with their parents in Burpengary, north of Brisbane.

Their mother, Natasha Knight, 35, is of mixed-race Jamaican-English heritage, while their father Michael Singerl, 34, is a white German. But, like Kaydon and Layton, one of the five-month old girls is is black while the other is white.

Miss Knight said they had speculated during her pregnancy about what would happen if each twin entirely took after one parent.

"It's just amazing, they are so different," she said. "When they were born you could see there was a colour difference straight away. We couldn't believe it.

"Alicia's eyes were brown and her hair was dark. Jasmin's eyes were blue and her hair was white – you could hardly see her hair or her eyebrows."


[source]

[Menydh]

Black and white twins born by one in a million chance

Daily Mail
October 22, 2006

Establishing a little individuality is a challenge faced by most twins.

But nature has already given Alicia and Jasmin Singerl a helping hand.

Gorgeously chubby and sunny-natured, the five-month-old girls already turn heads when their parents take them out.

But many do a double take when they realise Alicia is black while Jasmin is white.

Experts say the chance of twins being born with such different physical characteristics is about a million to one.

The Australian sisters, who were conceived naturally, were born in May and live with their parents in Burpengary, north of Brisbane.

Their mother, Natasha Knight, 35, is of mixed-race Jamaican-English heritage, while their father Michael Singerl, 34, is a white German.

The couple, who are engaged, also have five-year- old daughter, Taylah, who is a blue-eyed blonde with an olive complexion.

Miss Knight said they had speculated during her pregnancy about what would happen if each twin entirely took after one parent.

"It's just amazing, they are so different," she said. "When they were born you could see there was a colour difference straight away. We couldn't believe it.

"Alicia's eyes were brown and her hair was dark. Jasmin's eyes were blue and her hair was white - you could hardly see her hair or her eyebrows.

"Someone even asked me if I was sure there wasn't a mix-up at the hospital. But there was no mix-up - they are my girls and they are both so beautiful.

"We were joking when I was pregnant about what if one baby looked like me and one looked like Michael? We joked about one light one, one dark one, so it was amazing when it actually happened.

"When we go out people stop and ask if they are twins. Other people will look but not say anything. Maybe they think I am babysitting one of them.

"It will be interesting when they go to school and they will probably wonder why they look so different from each other. I guess the easiest way to explain it will be to say one took after Mum, one took after Dad."

Genetics experts say that in most cases a mixed-race woman's eggs will be a mixture of genes for both black and white skin.

However, more rarely, the eggs may contain genes for predominantly one skin colour.

In this case, there were two such eggs, one with dark pigmentation genes and one fair.

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 producing two of them, resulting in twins.

"It's probably a million to one," he said. "It's a terrifically rare phenomenon."


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[Menydh]

Black and white twins

Daily Mail
March 2, 2006

When Kylie Hodgson gave birth to twin daughters by caesarean section, she was just relieved that they had arrived safely.

It was only when the midwife handed them over for her to hold that she noticed the difference between them.

Remee, who weighed 5lb 15oz, was blonde and fair skinned. Her sister Kian, born a minute later weighing 6lb, was black.

'Our two gorgeous little girls'

"It was a shock when I realised that my twins were two different colours," said Kylie, 19. "But it doesn't matter to us - they are just our two gorgeous little girls."

The amazing conception happened after two eggs were fertilised at the same time in the womb.

Both Kylie and her partner Remi Horder, 17, are of mixed race. Their mothers are both white and their fathers are black.

According to the Multiple Births Foundation, baby Kian must have inherited the black genes from both sides of the family, whilst Remee inherited the white ones.

Kylie, from Nottingham, discovered she was pregnant in the summer of 2004 and a scan at the Queen's Medical Centre revealed that twins were on the way.

"It was a shock at first to discover I was expecting as we hadn't been trying for a family," she said 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 in April last year because one of the girls was lying in an awkward position in the womb.

"I didn't see them at first," added their mother. "They were both whisked away to be checked over and then the midwife came back and placed them both in my arms.

"I noticed that both of them had beautiful blue eyes, but whilst Remee was blonde, Kian's hair was black and she had darker skin.

"It seemed strange, but I was feeling so ill that I didn't really take it in at that stage."

The next day she mentioned the colour difference to her mother, who told her that Remee's skin would darken as she grew older.

But as the weeks passed, Remee became lighter still while Kian went darker. And while Remee's eyes stayed blue, Kian's turned brown.

"There are some similarities between them," said their mother. "They both love apples and grapes, and their favourite television programme is Teletubbies.

"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.

"I'll explain it all to them when they get older about why they look so different."

Million to one odds

The odds against of a mixed race couple having twins of dramatically different colour are a million to one.

Skin colour is believed to be determined by up to seven different genes working together.

If a woman is of mixed race, her eggs will usually contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin.

Similarly, a man of mixed race will have a variety of different genes in his sperm. When these eggs and sperm come together, they will create a baby of mixed race.

But, very occasionally, the egg or sperm might contain genes coding for one skin colour. If both the egg and sperm contain all white genes, the baby will be white. And if both contain just the versions necessary for black skin, the baby will be black.

For a mixed-race couple, the odds of either of these scenarios is around 100 to one. But both scenarios can occur at the same time if the woman conceives non-identical twins, another 100 to one chance.

This involves two eggs being fertilised by two sperm at the same time, which also has odds of around 100 to one.

If a sperm containing all-white genes fuses with a similar egg and a sperm coding for purely black skin fuses with a similar egg, two babies of dramatically different colours will be born.

The odds of this happening are 100 x 100 x 100 - a million to one.


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[Menydh]

The world's least alike twins

MSNBC
September 29, 2005

Dutch twin boys born of the same womb — one black, one white — face growing up in a not-so-colorblind world

They are like any two 11 1/2 year-old-boys. Best friends that aren’t above the occasional fight, the bond that Koen and Tuen share goes deeper than squabbling.

Looking at them, it might surprise you to learn that not only are they brothers— they’re twin brothers.

Dateline has been following their story since they first arrived in 1993.

The two boys are growing up in a world that sees color everywhere, but in a family that says it’s color blind.

Wilma Stuart, mother of twin boys: We are so used to it we don’t see that they are different in color.

Ann Curry, anchor: But you live in a world that does.

Wilma: Yes.

Curry: And therein lies the problem.

Wilma: Exactly.

How they got to this place is its own remarkable story. The Stuarts, Wilma and Willem are Dutch. He’s an engineer, she’s a nurse. Theirs is an extraordinary story that began in the most ordinary way: They married in 1984 and assumed children would follow, but they didn’t. After six years they tried invitro fertilization.

The Stuarts were lucky. On April 2, 1993 Wilma learned she was pregnant, and soon after, they discovered they were having twins— exactly what they had hoped for.

Wilma settled in to enjoy her pregnancy, but the delivery was not as easy. On December 1, 1993, two boys were born by emergency caesarian section. Koen, short for Conrad, arrived at 2:55 a.m.

Wilma: He was beautifully pink. He had blue eyes and dark hair.

The second twin, Tuen, was born just three minutes later. He was not as robust as his brother. He went to an incubator on another floor of the hospital, while Koen was placed in a bassinet at his mother’s side.

It was three days before the Stuarts saw their new babies together.

Wilma: At that time the difference was so big that I immediately said "He is brown, he’s very brown." I knew immediately that something went wrong.

And she started asking questions and looking for an explanation.

Wilma: We would ask nurses, "How come that Koen’s so brown?" They would say that newborn babies have sometimes liver problems, and that they turn yellow. So they would check that in his blood and the level would always be normal and they didn’t talk about it any more, so we didn’t either.

If not the jaundiced condition that so many babies are born with— what was it?

Wilma: I descend from French gypsies and he descends from Mongolian people so a little brown could be somewhere in the family. But it never eased my mind. It never did. He was too different.

With every possible explanation as to why was one of their babies was so dark, there remained the one nagging fear that no one wanted to say out loud.

Wilma: You don’t want to hear someone else say, “Well, we think that’s not your baby. You don’t want to know that.”

Wilma had long ago fallen hopelessly in love with her baby boys, and was haunted by the prospect that one of the boys might not be hers. But not a single doctor had ever raised a question, and in fact many doctors say that it is often impossible to identify the race of a newborn by skin tone. Pigment melanin, which determines skin color, may not fully develop until well after birth.

But what doctors in the Netherlands missed— strangers didn’t.

Wilma: They would say to me, ‘Are these your children?’ and I would say ‘Yes.’ ‘Is this a twin?’ ‘Yes, it’s a twin.’ ‘You must have gotten the scare of your life when he was born.’ And I would say ‘Why? He has two arms, two legs, he has a beautiful face.’

People felt obliged to share their surprise. Whether white or black, people would speak up.

Wilma: We were walking downtown, and there came a black woman looking in our baby carrier, looking at us. And she would say, “Where did you get such a brown baby? How’s that possible?” And we would say “I don’t know. But he’s ours.”

When the twins were six months old, Koen developed a bronchial infection. The Stuarts took both boys to a new pediatrician.

Dr. Brussel: I said, ‘I see two children and one is very white and one is very black. I’m puzzling how that’s possible?’

Wilma: He asked us if it had occurred to us that they were so different in color. And we said, “Yes, of course.”

Dr. Brussel: And when I started the subject she starts crying immediately, Wilma.

[continue reading ..]

[Erasmus]

Black&White twins also in Argentina:

http://www.infobae.com/notas/nota.ph...Seccion=150803

[Menydh]

It has always puzzled me the use of the word trigueño/a in The Americas. Because it derives from trigo (wheat) I used to associate it with blonde. Then, one day a Mulatta from Costa Rica told me that she was trigueña and I thought that she had gone nuts.

Definition in the RAC:

1. adj. Of the colour of the wheat; between swarthy and blonde.
2. adj. Honduras and Venezuela. Said of a person of the Negro race or very dark skin.

[Erasmus]

Originally Posted by Mynydd

It has always puzzled me the use of the word trigueño/a in The Americas. Because it derives from trigo (wheat) I used to associate it with blonde. Then, one day a Mulatta from Costa Rica told me that she was trigueña and I thought that she had gone nuts.

Definition in the RAC:

Trigueño in Argentina is associated with brownies (Mestizos or Castizos).

[Menydh]

According with the first definition in the RAC dictionary, I gather that in it origins trigueño would define the colour of the skin of people with a yellow undertone after tanning.

Cobrizo, from cobre (copper), would define the same but with a red skin undertone.