Kaydon and Layton Richardson look like the best of friend when in fact they are actually twin brothers with different coloured skin.
Both boys celebrated their fourth birthday yesterday in the exact same week black parents Ben and Angela Ihegboro announced the birth of their white daughter Nmachi to the world.
Doctors around the world have been fascinated by the genetic quirks that have made these children ‘two in a million’rarities.
Kerry Richardson – Kaydon and Layton’s mother – said that the skin colour had been on her mind when she was giving birth to her daughter Tiyannah recently.
“I thought it was crazy. As much as it happened to me, the twins’ dad is white, so for it to happen to a black couple seems even stranger,”she said.
“When I was carrying Tiyannah I was wondering what colour she was going to be.
“Before the twins I would have expected that any child of mine would have my colour in them.
“But after Layton I wasn’t sure what she was going to look like.
“When she was born she looked as though she was going to go dark but at about two weeks old it was clear she was white.
“I was a little surprised as I thought Layton was a one-off. 
“Doctors can tell you what sex your baby is going to be but they can’t tell you what colour!”
Kerry, 32, who is of English-Nigerian heritage, fears that the twins will stand out when they start school in September.
She said, “It’s never been an issue up to now but I know that Layton notices the difference in their colour.
“I’ve tried to explain it to them in the past but last year we were in an airport in America when Layton shouted, ‘Mum, am I white like my dad and Kaydon’s black like you?’
“That was the first time he had said that but everyone thought it was very funny.
“I hope it’s not going to be a problem when they start school but kids can be cruel.”
Despite the boys being twins they are often surprised in how different their personality is.
The Job Centre worker from Widnes said, “If you put the twins in a group with other children Kaydon will take control, whereas when it’s just the two of them Layton calls the shots.
“Kaydon is very good with adults and will tell anybody that he loves them, but Layton will only say that he loves me.”
In 2006, when the boys were born, the pair were born 20 minutes apart and fair-skinned Layton was born before Kaydon who was much darker.
Dr Stephen Withers, an international clinical geneticist at the time said that the likelihood of a mixed race woman having eggs predominantly one skin colour was rare enough, let alone releasing two of them simultaneously and producing twins.
“It’s probably a million to one chance,” he said.
Their mother added: “You couldn’t find two twins who are more different.
“Kaydon is hyper and excitable whereas Layton can be moody and stubborn. Kaydon is into arty stuff and jigsaws and Layton is crazy about superheroes.”
And at the Queen Mary Hospital in Sidcup, South East London, doctors confirmed baby Nmachi is not an albino.
Father Ben Ihegboro, 44, a customer services adviser, admitted that when he saw the baby he exclaimed ‘What the flip?’before joking: ‘Is she mine?’
Speaking to the Sun, mother Angela said: “She is beautiful, a miracle baby.”
Despite jokingly asking whether he was the father, Mr Igegboro said: “Of course she is mine.
“My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn’t been, the baby wouldn’t have looked like that!”
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