These rare biracial twins are winning hearts all over the world

An American woman has given birth to a rare pair of biracial twins.

Twin girls Kalani and Jarani are turning heads in their hometown of Quincy, Illinois, and not just because they are insanely cute.

The sisters - who were born to a caucasian mother and black father - are biracial twins, meaning that one (Kalani) has a light caucasian skin tone, while the other (Jarani) has a darker mixed-race complexion.

Talking about the moment she realised that her daughter's had different skin tones, Whitney, 25, said: “When Kalani came out I thought she (had albinism) because she was all white. I asked my doctors, but they said, ‘Nope!’ And I kept thinking she would get color but she didn’t,”

It was then that Whitney and her partner, Thomas Dean, realised that they were parents to rare biracial twins.

According to Dr Jim Wilson, a population geneticist at the University of Edinburgh, the chances of a mixed-race couple becoming parents to biracial twins is about one in 500.

He told the BBC: "Our skin colour is determined by a number of gene variants... some of these we know, and some of them we don't yet know, and at each of these genes, that are influencing the colour of our skin, there tends to be two or more variants. One of which is producing a darker skin tone, and one of which is producing a lighter skin tone."

Unsurprisingly the girls turn heads wherever they go. Talking about the reaction they get from strangers, Whitney told Us Weekly: “When we go out in public, people will start looking at them because I dress them identical and I can tell they’re confused... No one believes they’re twins,”

But while the girls might cause a stir in public, Whitney insists that their physical difference isn't an issue at home.

"We don’t see color," she told People. “They are different colors, but sisters by blood... One is light and one is mixed, but we love them the same.”

In fact Whitney said the twin's older brother, Talan, 7, who is white and comes from a previous relationship, could teach his fellow Americans something about acceptance, saying: “People in this country could learn a lot from my son. He’s so innocent, he doesn’t understand racial tensions, because to him it doesn’t matter, as it shouldn’t matter to anyone else.”

However she did admimt that the sisters don't only look different, they also have totally different personalities. "Kalani is wild and very energetic, while Jarani just likes to be cuddled,” she told People.

But it's not just their rare genetics that make the twins so precious to their mother and father.

The couple tragically lost their first child together just two years ago. The boy, named Pravyn, passed away at the age of two after drowning in a babysitters pool.

"They are my miracle babies," Meyer explained. "J looks exactly like her brother did. When I look at pictures of J, I see Pravyn."

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