We almost always use the word “twins” to mean a totally identical pair. It’s even moved way beyond its use for identical siblings and into common vernacular English.
When this 31-year-old Nigerian woman went into labor in February, she had no idea what she was in for. She can now tell her twin sons apart with ease. Brothers Daniel and David were born just minutes apart, yet they look nothing alike except for big brown eyes. Their facial characteristics were similar, as was everything else that wasn’t altered by pigmentation. The parents and nurses were looking at a case of albinism, and even more extraordinary is that only one of the twins had it.
Stacy decided to share the adventures of the unusual duo on Instagram and at just over a year old, the twins have almost 18k followers.
“We did not know about their differences while I was pregnant, the scan did not show such so it was a huge surprise and the most amazing moment when the first twin (Daniel) came out with black hair and the second twin (David) came out with gold hair. I had them through CS, so the doctors were like: “It seems you are having totally unidentical twins.” Before I knew it, nurses started coming out to look at them,” mum of three, said Stacy.
David’s gold hair earned him the nickname “Golden” from their father Babajide.
Their dad was really overwhelmed and immediately named My Twin 2 (David) ‘Golden,’ so he fondly calls him Mr. Golden. He was all overjoyed seeing his boys. He stood for more than ten minutes marveling at them, declaring that he was simply admiring God’s magnificent creation and that they were his greatest gift ever.
Stacy has also done her fair share of sharing her wonderful twin boys with the rest of the world, and they’ve attracted a lot of positive attention.
albinism is a rare genetic condition that results in humans and animals having purely white complexions on their skin and fur. It affects anywhere between 1 in 17,000 to 1 in 20,000 people, though the frequency can vary depending on the country.
David has oculocutaneous albinism, which results in his light skin and gorgeous golden curls. Stacy said that luckily, David doesn’t have any health issues.
All these spectacular and unique differences that our genes give us, like skin colors, are what make us human. Genes are unpredictable, and even genetically identical twins like Daniel and David can vary in their skin color thanks to this.
No one should be treated differently because of some trivial genetic difference like the color of their skin. That’s just what it’s like to be alive, and it’s a wonderful thing.
Stacy admitted that she’d never received any negative comments and both boys are loved equally and unconditionally.
“There’re always side talks whenever we go out, people often wanna know how and what’s happening and maybe due to their cute and adorable nature, you just wanna come close to say hello.”
Due to the twins’ distinct look, the family has attracted the interest of children’s apparel companies as well as modeling offers from the United Kingdom. The family is eager to take advantage of new chances and has set up an Instagram account to share their happiness and promote awareness. “We opened an account for them because we believe they have a story to tell to the world and also as a way of creating awareness,” said Stacy.
“Daniel is more expressive while David is an observer. Both of them are highly inquisitive. Daniel is a foodie while David is quite picky; Daniel is extremely playful while David chooses moments; Daniel always likes to play the bigger brother role; they are both energetic.”