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\n\t\tMichelle and Lavinia Osbourne are twins with different fathers (Picture: Emma Lynch \/ BBC)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tMichelle and Lavinia Osbourne are twins with different fathers (Picture: Emma Lynch \/ BBC)<\/p>\n
A DNA test revealed a pair of twin girls have different fathers in a first-time discovery.<\/p>\n
Michelle and Lavinia Osbourne are thought to be the first set of twins to not share paternal lineage.<\/p>\n
The pair, aged 49, were born minutes apart from the same womb, but have since discovered they are in fact half-sisters as opposed to biological twins.<\/p>\n
Known as heteropaternal superfecundation, the phenomenon occurs when two or more eggs are fertilised by sperms produced by different men.<\/p>\n
It is such a rare event that only 20 such cases have been recorded globally, with the Osbourne sisters the first such instance documented in the UK.<\/p>\n
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Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n Lavinia told BBC<\/a> Radio 4 series The Gift the revelation was a devastation, with her twin sister being on few constants during her childhood, during which the pair were passed between different carers.<\/p>\n Michelle, on the other hand, was more matter-of-fact. <\/p>\n She told the BBC<\/a> the unique occurrence felt \u2018super odd\u2019 but \u2018made sense\u2019.<\/p>\n The pair explained their mother told them when they were young their father was called \u2018James\u2019.<\/p>\n Their mother, who gave birth to them at just 19 years old in Nottingham<\/a>, was absent from much of their childhood as well.<\/p>\n At five years old, Michelle and Lavinia were sent to stay with a friend\u2019s mother, to whom they affectionately referred as \u2018Grandma\u2019.<\/p>\n They were both reunited with their mother at ten, but were taken apart again within a few years when they were sent to live at a foster home.<\/p>\n Lavinia recalled: \u2018Physically and emotionally, she was always out of reach.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tWhat is heteropaternal superfecundation?\t\t\t<\/p>\n Heteropaternal superfecundation occurs when two or more of a woman\u2019s ova released in the same menstrual cycle are fertilised by sperms donated by different men.<\/p>\n It is an extremely rare phenomenon, with only 20 cases recorded worldwide, just one in the UK.<\/p>\n Unlike a regular multiple birth, twins conceived through heteropaternal superfecundation are in fact half siblings as they only share a mother.<\/p>\n In 2015, a judge in New Jersey ruled in favour of a father arguing he should only have to pay for one of two twins, as the other was not his biological child.<\/p>\n However questions began to arise when the twins finally tracked down James.<\/p>\n While Lavinia believed she recognised him, Michelle was convinced he wasn\u2019t her father after seeing a photo of him.<\/p>\n Her suspicions were confirmed following a DNA test in February 2022, which showed her father was in fact called Alex, who have battled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n She later met him face-to-face but, despite bearing a close physical resemblance, she concluded she didn\u2019t want to keep him in her life.<\/p>\n But Lavinia\u2019s DNA test also showed she had no biological connection to James.<\/p>\n The twins eventually tracked Lavinia\u2019s lineage to a man called Arthur living in West London<\/a>.<\/p>\n He explained their mother had \u2018knocked on my door\u2019 crying and at a time of need.<\/p>\n Despite their different origins, Michelle and Lavinia insist their bond will never be broken.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re always going to have a closeness that can\u2019t be broken\u2019, said Lavinia.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow
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