Back in 1996, Donna and Vince Aylmer thought that they were expecting only their fourth child, so imagine their surprise when they ended up welcoming their fifth as well!

Fraternal twins Lucy and Maria Aylmer were delivered on January 16, 1997, and the way they looked immediately made them famous all over the world. As fraternal twins, Lucy and Maria were expected to look different from each other, but not to this extent.

Maria was born with dark skin that matched their half-Jamaican mother, while Lucy was born with fair skin and light eyes matching her father's Caucasian features. Though they were twins, the girls looked like they were different ethnicities!

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Needless to say, Donna and Vince were stunned when they saw the twins.

“It was such a shock for her because obviously things like skin color don’t show up on scans before birth,” Lucy said recently. “So she had no idea that we were so different. When the midwife handed us both to her, she was just speechless.”

The girls' older siblings, two boys and a girl, have light brown features that reflect the fact that they are mixed race.

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“Our brothers and sisters have skin which is in between Maria and I,” Lucy said. “We are at opposite ends of the spectrum and they are all somewhere in between. But my grandmother has a very fair English rose complexion, just like mine.”

Over the years, many have been confused when they learn that Maria and Lucy are siblings.

“No one ever believes we are twins because I am white and Maria is black,” Lucy said. “Even when we dress alike, we still don’t even look like sisters, let alone twins.”

Now all grown up, Maria and Lucy have each developed their own distinct personalities. Maria is studying law and psychology at Cheltenham College and describes herself as an "outgoing" person who loves girly things.

“I love meeting people. I’m not scared to approach people,” Maria said.

Meanwhile, Lucy is more edgy but also shy and reserved than her twin sister.

"I’m terrified of going up to random strangers,” she said.

When asked if the fact that they looked so different impacted their relationship, Lucy said, “I think if we’d looked similar or even identical, then the bond between us would have been stronger when we were younger. But Maria and I had such different personalities, too. She was the outgoing twin whilst I was the shy one.”

These days, however, the two say they are very close.

“Now we have grown older, even though we still look so different, the bond between us is much stronger,” Maria said.

Find out more about these amazing twins in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!

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