Identical twins for Identical twins

When identical twin Joanne Johnson fell in love with identical twin Richard McGee, they thought that was enough coincidences for a lifetime.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

Three years after marrying, the couple are the proud parents of identical twin boys.

The odds against such a phenomenon are incalculable and there are no records of identical twins ever having had identical twins anywhere in the world.

'We just can't believe it has happened,' said Mrs McGee, 27, an occupational therapist from Preston. 'For Richard and I to meet was amazing enough - but for me to give birth to identical twins is just unbelievable.'

Non-identical twins can run in families but because a set of identical twins is created when a fertilised egg splits, their formation is completely random. The odds against it happening are roughly 300-1.

The McGees met when Joanne was on a night out with her sister Suzie, a midwife. 'Suzie and I used to cause a stir wherever we went because we just looked like two peas in a pod,' she said.

'When I met Richard and he told me he was an identical twin too I thought it was just a chat-up line. But then he showed me a picture of himself and his brother Mike, a designer for a Formula One motor racing team, and I could see that he was telling the truth. It just seemed like fate had brought us together.'

They married in August 2003 - with Suzie and Mike as a bridesmaid and best man.

The following April Mrs McGee discovered she was pregnant and at 12 weeks she went for a routine scan at the Royal Preston Hospital.

Mrs McGee, whose 32-year-old husband is a teacher, said: 'Richard kept saying before the scan that he'd had a dream where the doctor was telling us that it was twins.

'I kept telling him that was ridiculous - it would never happen in a million years. 'I didn't take him seriously. It had been chance enough with us meeting - the chances of us having identical twins ourselves would be virtually impossible.'

But when Mrs McGee lay on the scanning table at the hospital, the doctor had some unbelievable news. 'She said something about twins, and I stared at her in shock. She laughed and said she had referred to us both being twins.

'But then she looked back at the screen and said, "But you are - you're having twins."

'We just couldn't believe it. I was in complete shock. I had to look at the screen myself before I could actually believe it - but there were two babies on the screen. There was only one amniotic sac for both and they told us they were 99 per cent sure that it was identical twins.

'Richard was punching the air with joy, but neither of us could really believe it. It just seemed impossible.'

Implausibly, there was still one more coincidence to come. The doctor who revealed that the couple were expecting twins told them that she, too, was an identical twin.

Mrs McGee's pregnancy went smoothly and in January last year, Joshua and Oliver arrived after a natural birth, Joshua weighing 5lb and Oliver weighing 5lb 9oz.

Mrs McGee said: 'We were thrilled when they arrived safely. All our family and friends couldn't believe it either.

'They were identical when they arrived - which confirmed what the doctors had suspected.'

The twins are now both walking and talking and up to the average height and weight for their age.

Rachel Gardner Hill, of the Twins and Multiple Births Association, said: 'In my experience this is unique.

'I have never heard of it happening anywhere in the world before. The odds against parents who are both identical twins having identical twins have to be infinite. The percentage chances of it happening are incalculable.'