These twins were born to dark-complexioned African parents. They had skin colors that were starkly different. A few years later, a shocking thing happened to them. Daniel and David were born via C-section when their mother, Stacy, had gone for an ultrasound.
The doctors had detected healthy twin boys. It had been joyous news for Stacy and her husband, Babaj. They already had a 4-year-old daughter, Demol, who they showered with love and attention. But they had wanted more children, so the news they were going to be having twins had been enough to make them dance.
Fast forward to the day Stacy gave birth. She was under general anesthesia when the doctors brought out the babies from her womb. Daniel was brought out first, and he looked just like you would expect. He was your typical black baby with his parent’s skin tone, dark brown eyes, and dark curly hair. After him, David was brought out, and when the doctors saw him, there was a hush.
David was nothing like they had expected. He was Daniel’s twin brother and the son of his parents, but he looked nothing like any of them at all. David was white entirely, and his hair was golden colored. How could this be? The doctors wondered how twin boys could be so dissimilar. Was it not the same sperm and egg that conceived them?
The minute that the second question popped into the doctor’s mind, he couldn’t let it go. Only recently, he had read a rare case of heteropaternal superfecundation. It is a phenomenon where a woman delivers fraternal twins, but they have two different fathers.
What makes such a thing possible is that the woman releases multiple eggs during ovulation and has intercourse with two different men within the same cycle. It could result in two eggs being fertilized by sperm from two different men, which would result in twins with different biological fathers. However, the implication of the speculation was that Stacy must have cheated on her husband. He banished the thought. It would be best to speak with the couple first.
When Stacy woke up hours after the surgery, there was a nurse in the room with her. She asked for some water, and once she quenched her thirst, she asked to see her sons. The nurse thought it would be fair to warn her before bringing the babies, and so she did. Stacy stared at her, frowning. Did the nurse just say that one of her sons was white and had golden hair? What did that even mean? She demanded to see the twins first. Stacy’s eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets when two nurses brought her babies to her. She asked if they were sure that both of them were hers. The nurses affirmed with confidence that they were. They had been in the labor room.
When Stacy gave birth, slightly doubtful, Stacy called for her husband, Babaj. When he came, she showed him the twins, and it was apparent from her expression that she had mixed feelings. But Babaj had already met with the twins while his wife was asleep. He’d been baffled by the occurrence, but his heart was bursting with love for his children. He didn’t think for a second that there might be foul play, whether on the medic side or Stacy. All he knew was that his wife and children were healthy.
The couple met with the doctors to find out why David looked like he did. The doctors started by asking about the couple’s relationship with each other and how it had been in the past 10 months. It was an odd question, but the couple replied, being as open-minded as possible. Their relationship was great, and they had excellent communication. As for attraction to each other, it was as strong as when they were newlyweds or they wouldn’t have conceived their twins.
Carefully, the doctor approached the subject of heteropaternal superfecundation. Stacy was so shocked at the implication that she sputtered. But a part of her was glad that the doctor brought it up because she suspected that the thought of her being unfaithful must have crossed Babaj’s mind. She didn’t want that ugly shadow of doubt cast on their marriage and breaking the trust between them.
When the doctor casually proposed a blood test to confirm paternity of both boys, she accepted without hesitation. After the blood test results confirmed that indeed Babaj was the father of the twins, Babaj visibly breathed a sigh of relief. He trusted Stacy completely, but it was nice to have proof.
With this out of the way, the doctors closely examined David, and all the signs revealed he was an albino. An albino is a person affected by albinism. Albinism is a genetic condition indicated by a lack of melanin, the pigment responsible for the color of the skin, hair, and eyes. The cause of albinism is a mutation in one of the several genes involved in the production of melanin or its transportation within cells.
Stacy and Babaj were startled. How could their son be albino, whereas there were no albinos in either of their immediate families? Fully understanding the couple’s predicament because even as doctors, they’d never seen anything like the twins before, the doctors endeavored to educate the couple to the best of their knowledge.
Usually, most children who are albinos inherited it in an autosomal recessive pattern, meaning that both their parents are carriers of a mutated gene, although they are not albinos themselves. But once the parents are carriers, there’s a 25% chance that the child of each pregnancy would inherit the two copies of the mutated gene and have albinism. So, they must have carried the gene.
Due to David’s albinism, he would be subjected to certain health issues and would need extra attention. Lack of melanin resulted in his very pale skin that can easily get sunburned, his golden-white hair, and pinkish eye color. He could experience eyesight issues, including involuntary eye movements and sensitivity to light.
The doctor made them understand that albinism is something that could have happened to anyone, irrespective of their ethnic group or race. In fact, it affected animals too. For every 3,000 or 20,000 babies born, there was a chance that one of them was albino. There is currently no cure for albinism, but the good news is that it doesn’t get worse. They could lead a fulfilling life with proper management that includes sun protection, vision correction, and all-round support.
Although in Nigeria, where the couple was based, had one of the highest albinism rates in the world, with over 2 million albinos estimated to live in the country, albinos were still regarded as an oddity. People would double-take when they saw one and stare closely. To some Nigerians, an albino wasn’t a regular human being.
They regarded them as possessors of magical powers or cursed beings. For this reason, some outright discriminated against them or even picked fights with them. There’s also the fact that in some communities with less awareness, an individual with albinism was treated as an outcast simply because of how they looked. These communities went as far as regarding them as second-class citizens not entitled to all of the fundamental human rights. It even led to cases of inhumane treatments against albinos. They have been targets of rituals, severe school bullying, harassment at workplaces, and mockery.
Stacy had seen a case or two firsthand back then, she hadn’t been too involved, dismissing the incident as normal human prejudice. But now that she had an albino son whom she loved dearly, she was terrified. How would people perceive him? Would he be okay out there in the world? It was true that Stacy and her family lived in Lagos, which compared to many communities, had a high percentage of educated people who wouldn’t discriminate against David. But people could be needlessly cruel. Stacy was bothered by that. She confided in her husband, and he held her close, assuring her that they would protect their son no matter what.
Contrary to the couple’s dreary expectations from the hospital, the twins garnered much admiration. Nurses crowded in Stacy’s room to see the twins and gushed over them, noting how cute they were. They only had high praises for them. Seeing this, Stacy was comforted that her babies were not regarded as freaks. She and Babaj had already decided that come whatever, they would unconditionally love and protect their boys.
Four days after Stacy gave birth, she returned home. Just like the nurses at the hospital, their neighbors were stunned at the twins’ appearance. They kept complimenting the boys, particularly David, calling him “oimo,” which means “white man.” Twins like the brothers were rare, and Stacy believed that they were one of a kind. She had never seen anything like them, and neither had other people who they came across.
Their four-year-old daughter, Demilade, had questions about why David looked like he did. Her parents patiently explained this condition to her, and she was fascinated. She thought it was the coolest thing ever. Her only concern was the health issues.
She didn’t want her baby brother in any form of distress. It was Demilade who started paying close attention to any signs of David experiencing discomfort and started prompting her parents to action. If she noticed David was blinking too much because of the bright bulb, she either dimmed it or turned it off. Whenever he ate, she observed him to ensure the food didn’t have side effects. David couldn’t eat all foods because of his albinism, so his family members were careful with what they fed him.
As Daniel and David grew older, people’s admiration of them increased. Stacy was a fashion designer, and she often attired the twins in matching adorable outfits. When people saw it, they were full of praise for the brothers and the clothes. They wanted the exact outfits the boys wore, and Stacy sold it to them. Her business boomed because of her sons. It was through these experiences that she saw an opportunity to make the boys visible on the online space.
She had a gut feeling that they would thrive. After consulting with Babaj and deliberating on this matter, they decided to go ahead with opening Instagram and TikTok pages for the boys. Mere months after she did so, the boys amassed an impressive following of 18,000 followers online and became Instagram celebrities. People were inspired by their journey, their unique appearances, and wonderful personalities.
Their boosted visibility made it possible for them to land several desirable brand deals. A skincare company that specifically designed products for albinos so that they don’t develop spots on their skin that may later on lead to cancer sent a free package to David. It worked wonders for his skin. Stacy gave a wonderful video review online to support the mission of the company.
The turning point in the twins’ journey came when a London-based photography brand discovered the twins on social media. Hooked by their captivating appearances and moving story, they reached out to Stacy, offering the boys an opportunity to become models. It was a dream come true for the family and another exciting chapter in their lives.
With all the love the twins were receiving, Stacy and Babaj relaxed. Unknown to them, something terrible was about to unfold. It all started when the twins began elementary school. They were excited from the first day to make new friends and play together. They were only 4 years old. David was the taller of the twins, although Daniel was older.
Their height difference meant nothing to the boys. They remained as close as can be. However, it became obvious to both of them after a few weeks at elementary school that something was wrong. Their classmates were being mean to David for no reason. Usually, the boys always sat together, but on this particular morning, one classmate came up to them and asked David to find another seat because he wanted to sit there next to Daniel.
This classmate was a well-known bully who often made other kids cry. David was a little scared, but he lifted his chin and refused. The bully fumed and took action. He pushed David off the seat. Shocked, David got to his feet and asked why he pushed him.
He didn’t do anything wrong by sitting next to his brother. But the classmate shouted at him, saying he didn’t look like his twin and was fake. He asked David to stop pretending he was brothers with Daniel when everybody knew he was adopted. Not a single classmate came to David’s rescue. After that day, they snickered behind his back, calling him fake and adopted. They seemed to find it funny, but it hurt David’s feelings a lot.
Daniel tried to make him feel better by giving him his snacks and playing with him at break because no one else wanted to. But David knew that no matter what his brother did, Daniel couldn’t make him stop being treated like an outcast by their classmates. Their teachers didn’t help matters. They were aware of the children’s treatment of David, the albino twin, but they turned a blind eye or made feeble attempts to correct the children. Although Daniel wasn’t a target because he was like the others, he was as sad as David because he felt his brother’s hurt.
Both of them started to lose weight, and their interest in school waned. They didn’t want to tell their parents what was going on because their classmates had threatened to be meaner to David if they snitched. Everything got to a tipping point when the end of the term drew close, and the children were to prepare a drama presentation.
David suited the lead role the most, and since the teacher heading over the drama unit was fair, she gave it to him. David was so excited about it, and that was all he could talk about at home for weeks. But on the presentation day, Stacy and Babaj saw Daniel playing the role, and he was rather grumpy about it. It appeared as though he deliberately sabotaged the drama. When their parents confronted the boys about this, they made lame excuses, and their teachers were no better.
It was then that the parents started connecting the dots and noticed their boys haven’t been the same for some time. They were forced to take drastic measures. Babaj worked at a print press, but he had a wide array of contacts. He got one of them to fit a camera into the boys’ school bag. This contact also loved the boys, so he hopped onto Babaj’s plan.
They installed a tiny camera on Daniel’s school bag and gave David a toy watch, which actually was a voice recorder. Through these devices, their parents found out the heartbreaking truth. There was video footage of the child bully pushing David, Daniel and David eating lunch alone looking sad, and how their teacher ignored David whenever he asked a question but answered everyone else.
The worst part was when the teacher punished David unfairly and only to his hearing. She told him that she would deal with him so long as he was in this school. The nasty teacher admitted that she was the reason why David didn’t play the main role in the drama.
She had met the drama teacher and told her lies about David, how he was proud, didn’t relate well with other children, and his complexion would distract from his acting. She had advised the drama teacher to use Daniel since they were brothers and both good actors. Although the drama teacher had regretted her decision because of how terrible Daniel deliberately chose to play the role, the nasty teacher didn’t care. She got what she wanted. Unknown to her, the voice recorder that was David’s watch recorded everything.
When Stacy and Babaj listened, they wept. The injustice of it all was too much. They involved the school authorities and the police. The school authorities fired the nasty teacher and expelled the bully. Then the police locked the teacher up for harming a child under her care. She paid a heavy bail before she was released. The twins’ parents also withdrew the boys from that school and admitted them into a better one. Their new school embraced all skin colors and children from all backgrounds. The twins flourished there, and in no time, they regained their bright personalities.
Unable to let the bullying incident go because of how much farther it could have gotten had they not found out, Stacy talked about the experience online. People were outraged at the teacher and school authorities for not doing a better job at protecting children in their care. Many positive comments poured in support of Stacy and the twins. “People need to learn to love and accept others regardless of how they look. I’m so glad you found out and saved your sons in time. They could have turned down each other, but instead, they stood together. You raised such fine youngsters,” a common praise. There were many others similar to it.
Nearing their fifth birthday, this is what happened to them. After a while, the family was able to put the ugly incident of the school bullying behind them. Instead, their focus turned to the twins’ upcoming birthday on the 26th of February. The parents prepared many matching outfits for them, ranging from sportswear to dark blue jumpsuits. They wore matching shoes and posed similarly. Stacy posted the pictures on Instagram, and many warm regards poured in. People all around the world wished the boys a hearty birthday and welcomed them to a new age.
They’re both looking forward to the bright future ahead of them. As for the boys, they continue to deepen the bond between them, and every time their story gets told, people are inspired. How we look doesn’t define us, but rather the love we’re willing to show others.
