Nobody understood how a mother's twin daughters were born with different skin colors - 18 years later, the truth was revealed

Donna Aylmer cried tears of joy when she discovered she was pregnant with twin girls.

But after the birth, as she looked at her newborn daughters, she was confused— even shocked.

One of them, Lucy, was born with red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. The other, Maria, was born with brown skin, brown eyes, and dark hair.

Everyone in the family was stunned when they came to visit Donna and saw the very unalike twins.

As you can see in the picture below, the difference between the two sweet girls was striking right from the start.

Donna and others didn’t understand the situation at first. How could this have happened? The scientific explanation, however, is fairly simple.

Donna is half Jamaican and half British, while the twins’ father is fully British.

Lucy and Maria are fraternal twins, meaning two separate eggs were fertilized by two different sperm cells.

Genetically, Donna carries both light and dark traits—so one twin inherited the lighter features, while the other inherited the darker ones.

Sadly, their difference in skin color made them targets of bullying when they were young—especially Lucy. No one believed they were related, let alone twins.

“They thought I was adopted and called me a ghost,” Lucy said, tears in her eyes.

And Maria, as a child, often wished she looked more like Lucy.

“I cried a lot. I had curly hair, but I wanted my sister’s beautiful red hair,” she said.

Today, the sisters are very different—not only physically, but in personality too. Maria is more outgoing and interested in fashion, while Lucy is more reserved and loves art.

Looking at them now, at 18 years old, the contrast is simply astonishing. It wasn’t until 2015 that they first spoke publicly about their journey.

But despite being complete opposites, they are also as close as twins can be. They are best friends and have learned to embrace themselves—and their differences—with pride.

“If I have children one day, maybe they’ll look like Lucy,” Maria said proudly.

Though they no longer dress the same and their appearances couldn’t be more different, they absolutely share the same beautiful smile.