Children are not always going to look alike. When it comes to genes, it eventually comes down to a complex array of probabilities that leave some unlikely scenarios coming about eventually. We know that not all twins will be identical, but we expect there to be certain things that remain similar about the pair. Yet these adorable babies will challenge that assumption.
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Isabella and Gabriella Shipley are two seven-month-old twins, and they have recently become Instagram sensations. They are fraternal twins (meaning they are non-identical), but the remarkable thing about them is that they do not share the same skin color. Now that their mother is posting photos of them on Instagram, the whole world can marvel at how damn cute they both are.
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The Instagram account @littlestronggirls has become incredibly popular, amassing 13,000 followers despite only launching in July.
"Isabella is a calm baby and super laid back. She giggles whenever you stare at her and loves to be tickled," their mother, Clementine, told Essence. "Gabriella started crawling at 5 months as has not stopped moving since. She is a smiling ball of energy and loves to snuggle".
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The mother continued:
"It has been an amazing reception sharing our babies online, it really shows how amazing Black genes are since we can create such unique babies. We have received a ton of love from our posts.
"Most people have showered them with positivity. Of course there have been a few negative comments as well, but that comes with the territory. From time to time we've ran into negative comments about Gabriella's color, if she's loved and if she considered beautiful because of her darker complexion.
"Also some people think they must be mixed but they are African-American, gray eyes run in our family so two of our three children have them, once again showing how amazing African-American genes are."
As well as this adorable pair, there is also a third child. Their older sister Angelina is two years old and a regular on the Instagram account.
"Our oldest Angelina is doing great as a big sister, from the day she met the twins she wanted to hold and hug them," Clementine said of her eldest daughter. "Angelina has been the youngest for a long time in an all-girl family, so I think she was happy to be able to help take care of the babies."
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"Sometimes she is a little rough when trying to play with them, so we have to monitor that. But overall, she is a wonderful big sister."
While their differing skin tones is a remarkable thing to happen, what is most mind-blowing about all of these children is how adorable they are, and how much you can see their different personalities come through in Clementine's photos, even at such an early age. They've definitely found a new follower in me, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the trio.
