When Mother Nature decides to have fun, we get cool things like rainbows, pink dolphins, and twins! Who doesn’t smile when they meet a pair of twins? Although at times it can be hard to tell them apart, we know that fraternal twins can look so completely different that they look like average siblings.

Sisters Lucy and Maria Aylmer are not only fraternal twins, but mixed-raced siblings who were born to a white father and a black mother. No big deal right? Well, the two sisters are considered a unique pair because to most people, they hardly look related at all. The UK-bred beauties often cause jaws to drop when people find out they are twins.

The girls are the only set of twins among their parents’ five children. Their mom Donna is half black Jamaican, half white, and carries the gene for both black and white offspring. When Lucy and Maria were born, both parents were shocked when one came out brown, and the other fair-skinned. Lucy is white, a redhead with blue eyes and freckles, and Maria is black, with dark curly hair and brown eyes. Their three older siblings all range in skin tones that fall in between the twins’ complexions.

As the girls were growing up, they were dressed alike as twins often are, but there were moments they wanted to be different. Maria admitted that she wanted straight hair like Lucy’s, and Lucy said by age 10 she wanted to show off her own individuality. No more identical outfits! Because of her fair skin, she was often teased and cruelly called names like “ghost.” Kids thought she was adopted.

Now 19-years-old, both young ladies have come into their own, with their own sense of style and purpose. Maria’s personality is more outgoing, and she loves to dress up and wear trendy clothing. She is a student at Cheltenham College studying law who enjoys approaching and meeting new people. Lucy on the other hand, is more reserved and prefers casual gear. Her studies are in the art field at Gloucester College.

So, how did this happen? Well, scientifically speaking, with fraternal twins two separate eggs are released by the mother and fertilized by two different sperm. Each twin will only share half of their DNA.  Genetically, since mom Donna is biracial and carries traits for black and white ancestry, one twin got the traits for white skin and the other for black skin.

The pretty girls are the best of friends and have learned to love themselves and their differences as twin sisters. The twin bond is super strong here! Though they are not identical and no longer dress alike, if you look closely, you can see they actually share the same smile. When you see the family photo in the video, the resemblance among all the children is there. What do you think of this cool pair of sisters? Do you know a unique set of fraternal twins? Tell us in the comments!