A Second Set of Twins
When Alison gave birth to Leah and Miya, they found that the identical twins, who were born at 37 weeks due to being in the breech position, were also multiracial.
The Durrant family is now the only family in the history of the world to have ever had two sets of multiracial twins, according to the Guinness World Records.
After the birth of Leah and Miya, the dad of two sets of black and white twins told CBS News, “I’m almost blown away as the rest of them, there’s no easy way to explain it all. I’m still in shock myself even though the first ones were 7 years ago, it’s amazing.”
Although all the girls are biracial, Leah, like her older sister, Lauren, and her mother, has the complexion and physical characteristics of a white person, while Miya, like her older sister, Hayleigh, and her father, has the complexion of a black person.
Royal College of General Practitioners doctor, Sarah Jarvis explained that any kind of twin is uncommon, but that “To have two eggs fertilized and come out different colors less common so to have it happen twice must be one in millions.”
After the birth of their second set of twins, the parents and older girls spoke about it to CBS. Watch their interview posted to YouTube here:
Today the black and white twins are much older, with Lauren and Hayleigh turning 22 in the year 2023, and the younger twins, Leah and Miya turning 15 the same year.
The older twins have since gone to college and have remained close.
“People just assume we’re best friends rather than sisters, let alone twins,” Lauren told reporters. “I’m happy with that because she is my best friend.”
From Hayleigh’s perspective the older twins “finish each other’s sentences. Sometimes I know exactly what she is thinking.”
Adding her view on her girls’ relationship, Alison said, “They are best friends and close in every way, apart from looking different.”
At times, Dean publicly shares photos and information on Facebook about his beautiful multiracial daughters. This photo is from just a few years ago:
The girls’ closeness has likely been a saving grace because they found it especially difficult to be multiracial twins at college.
“When we went to college it was difficult because there were lots of groups of Asian, white and black kids,” Hayleigh shared. “The black group were trying to integrate me and I was like, ‘This is my white twin sister.’ No one could believe it. People look at us like it’s some kind of miracle. I’m still amazed that we are twins.”
And the younger twins say that their older sisters have been a big help in navigating people’s reactions to their physical differences.
“Lauren and Hayleigh are my heroes,” Leah told CBS news. “I like my older sisters. We want to be like them when we are grown-up.”
Dean told CBS, “The younger ones idolize the older ones and are always copying them. It’s like having two Mini-Mes.”
One can tell that despite some of the difficulties that have come along with some community members’ reactions to the black-and-white twins, the girls are happy and thriving…