When Hayleigh and Lauren Durrant are out in public, people regularly ask to see their IDs to confirm they are identical twins.
Because Lauren is white and Hayleigh is black, many people are shocked to hear that they have the same parents.
Seven years later, their parents received another set of twins who had the same variegated coloration, an extraordinary phenomenon in itself.
When people find out they are twins, Hayleigh and Lauren said they will never get tired of seeing their surprised faces. On the other hand, performing has its disadvantages.
There are people who treat others with disrespect. They say, “You’re lying, you’re not twins; prove it!” According to Hayleigh, who has dark skin and black hair like her father Dean, in an exclusive interview with The Sun in 2019.
So we either repeat the address or pull out the passports. Watching people’s surprised faces is humorous. Because there were so many diverse subgroups of Asian, white, and black students, it was difficult for us to acclimate to college.
According to Lauren, who has blonde hair and green eyes like her mother Alison Spooner, people usually mistake them for best friends rather than sisters.
With a one in 500,000 chance of such a thing happening, doctors were shocked when the two arrived at the hospital in early 2001 looking so different.
The family was added to the Guinness Book of Records after the birth of their younger twins Leah and Miya, who were born in 2009 and had a different skin tone.
“When we were kids, we were like celebrities,” Hayleigh continued. “Everyone wanted to take pictures with us and find out what it’s like to be non-identical twins. It feels typical to us.
While Leah has her mother’s skin, Miya has her father’s skin. Unlike their older sisters, the younger sisters have aged to look more alike.
“The younger ones idolize the older ones and copy them all the time.” Dean, the finisher, described it as “with two Mini-Mes”.
They remain the only two sets of identical twins with different skin tones in the entire world.
They are great friends and close in every way, despite office manager Alison saying they are nothing alike. It took me a while to understand how they could look so different.
Alison recalls a chance encounter she had at a doctor’s appointment. One woman informed her that she believed one of the children was her own and the other was her boyfriend.
Despite the fact that Hayleigh and Lauren were never bullied, some children at school questioned why one of them was “milk chocolate” while the other was “white chocolate”.
But the girls didn’t seem to mind the snide remarks. Instead, they would reply, “It doesn’t matter, we’re sisters and best friends.”
The older twins, in particular, could never be separated. In elementary school, they wanted to spend all their time together. They would also share interests in toys, clothing, literature, television and other media.
In high school, Lauren and Hayleigh were assigned to separate subjects, but made sure to avoid each other outside of class.
Their interests have changed as a result of the divorce. At the time of their interview with The Sun, Hayleigh was majoring in Drama and Theater Studies and Lauren in Business Studies.
Lauren said: “We’re really similar in some ways. We talk at the same time and finish each other’s sentences at the same time.”
Leah, Miya’s roommate, claims that Miya’s older sisters, Miya and Leah, are her “heroes”.
“My older sisters hold a special place in my heart. “When we grow up, we want to be like them,” she said.
Miya says Hayleigh and Lauren are “the best”.
They taught me that having a twin is the best thing in the world, even if you are not identical, she added.
The story of the Durrant family is an extraordinary tale of love, acceptance and the unbreakable bond between siblings. With their different looks, Hayleigh and Lauren defied the odds and captured the curiosity of those around them. Their unique circumstances made them resilient in the face of skepticism and disrespectful comments.
In a world full of diversity, their story reminds us all to embrace and celebrate our differences, because it is in our uniqueness that we find strength, love and the true essence of what it means to be family.
All four twins – Leah, Miya, Hayleigh and Lauren – are incredibly close. Learn more about this incredible family in the video below.