All children are blessings unto the world – this is something any parent knows.
Amanda and Michael Biggs got to experience the unparalleled joy of welcoming their twin girls back in 2006. Naturally, it was the happiest day of their lives, and they keenly looked forward to future and all the promise it held.
And yet the story of Millie and her sister Marcia was one that would have a number of surprises. As time went by, their parents began to notice that one of twin’s skin was changing color.
Initially, the tops of Millie’s fingers began to darken. Her ears soon followed. This trend continued, and soon enough her whole body was becoming darker in tone.
Marcia’s, in contrast, began to get lighter. Amanda and Michael are an interracial couple, and so colour has never concerned them. Even so, they did consider how their girls would be perceived by others, especially since their home in Birmingham, UK, has a history of racial tension.
After a period of research, the parents were able to find out exactly what had caused the changes in their girls: an extremely rare condition known as atavism.
It resulted from the varied genetic makeup of their parents, but is so uncommon that it’s believed to affect only one in a million twins.
Now, while Amanda and Michael were simply happy to know the condition wouldn’t negatively impact Millie or Marcia’s health in anyway, other people were naturally confused when they saw them.
Amanda says people asked her how the girls could possibly be twins when she would take them out in a stroller. As per FaithTap, she was even once accused of lying by a teacher, who thought they couldn’t be twins because of their different skin tones.
For the most part, though, the parents are relieved that people in general are more curious than prejudiced, and Amanda and Michael couldn’t be prouder of their little girls.
Millie and Marcia both love to sing and dance, and say they’ve never personally experienced racism.
The twins have now blossomed into teenagers and still attend the same school together. When they were 11, they used the uniqueness of their condition to try to help tackle racism on an international scale, appearing in a campaign for National Geographic.
Now, as ever, we need to work towards societies were racism doesn’t exist in any form. The idea that we’re in 2020 and people can still be judged and mistreated due to the color of their skin is ridiculous.
Share this article if you think Millie and Marcia’s story is an inspiring one, and that they are beautiful!
