A mixed-race couple, Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner of Fleet, Hampshire, have given birth to black and white twins.
But, incredibly, this is the SECOND time it has happened.
The odds of this happening are half-a-million to one.
Mixed-race couple give birth to black and white twins - for the second time
By Niall Firth
31st December 2008
Daily Mail
A mixed-race couple who had one black and one white twin daughter seven years ago have defied the odds and done it again.
Dean Durrant, 33, and Alison Spooner, 27, beat odds of 500,000 to one to give birth to their second set of twins with different colour skins - Miya has her father's black skin and Leah is white like her mother.
The couple's first set of twins arrived in 2001, with blue-eyed, red-haired Lauren looking just like her mother while Hayleigh has black skin and hair like her father.
Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner (pictured earlier today) beat odds of 500,000-to-one to give birth to their second set of twins
Mr Durrant from Fleet, Hampshire, told the Sun: 'We didn't think it was even possible when we had Lauren and Hayleigh - and it didn't cross our minds that it could happen again. But we are just delighted that it has.'
Ms Spooner added: 'I was shocked when I first found out I was pregnant with twins again - but I never thought for one second they would turn out the same as last time.'
Mixed twins occur when two separate eggs are fertilised by two sperm.
Skin colour is believed to be determined by up to seven different genes working together.
Mum and dad hold their special newborn babies (pictures Sky News)
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.
Twins Miya and Leah were delivered by Caesarean section at Frimley Park Hospital, in Surrey, at just 37 weeks of pregnancy after scans revealed both babies were breach.
Ms Spooner said: 'After the babies were born they weren't breathing properly, so they were taken to a special care unit.
'It wasn't until about five days after they were born that we saw them side by side for the first time.
'And when they were together it was clear that one was darker than the other. It was unbelievable."
'Now the girls are back home with us and are very healthy. Lauren and Hayleigh think the new arrivals are fantastic.'
dailymail.co.uk
But, incredibly, this is the SECOND time it has happened.
The odds of this happening are half-a-million to one.
Mixed-race couple give birth to black and white twins - for the second time
By Niall Firth
31st December 2008
Daily Mail
A mixed-race couple who had one black and one white twin daughter seven years ago have defied the odds and done it again.
Dean Durrant, 33, and Alison Spooner, 27, beat odds of 500,000 to one to give birth to their second set of twins with different colour skins - Miya has her father's black skin and Leah is white like her mother.
The couple's first set of twins arrived in 2001, with blue-eyed, red-haired Lauren looking just like her mother while Hayleigh has black skin and hair like her father.
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Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner (pictured earlier today) beat odds of 500,000-to-one to give birth to their second set of twins
Mr Durrant from Fleet, Hampshire, told the Sun: 'We didn't think it was even possible when we had Lauren and Hayleigh - and it didn't cross our minds that it could happen again. But we are just delighted that it has.'
Ms Spooner added: 'I was shocked when I first found out I was pregnant with twins again - but I never thought for one second they would turn out the same as last time.'
Mixed twins occur when two separate eggs are fertilised by two sperm.
Skin colour is believed to be determined by up to seven different genes working together.
![](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2Fi%2Fpix%2F2008%2F12%2F31%2Farticle-1103391-02EC09B5000005DC-813_224x262.jpg&hash=848c35fd4b3e8d9d068b8cf1a7c8ef9d)
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Mum and dad hold their special newborn babies (pictures Sky News)
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.
Twins Miya and Leah were delivered by Caesarean section at Frimley Park Hospital, in Surrey, at just 37 weeks of pregnancy after scans revealed both babies were breach.
Ms Spooner said: 'After the babies were born they weren't breathing properly, so they were taken to a special care unit.
'It wasn't until about five days after they were born that we saw them side by side for the first time.
'And when they were together it was clear that one was darker than the other. It was unbelievable."
'Now the girls are back home with us and are very healthy. Lauren and Hayleigh think the new arrivals are fantastic.'
dailymail.co.uk