Twins

Establishing a little individuality is a challenge faced by most twins.
But nature has already given Alicia and Jasmin Singerl a helping hand.

Gorgeously chubby and sunny-natured, the five-month-old girls already turn heads when their parents take them out.

But many do a double take when they realise Alicia is black while Jasmin is white.

Experts say the chance of twins being born with such different physical characteristics is about a million to one.

The Australian sisters, who were conceived naturally, were born in May and live with their parents in Burpengary, north of Brisbane. Their mother, Natasha Knight, 35, is of mixed-race Jamaican-English heritage, while their father Michael Singerl, 34, is a white German.

The couple, who are engaged, also have five-year- old daughter, Taylah, who is a blue-eyed blonde with an olive complexion. Miss Knight said they had speculated during her pregnancy about what would happen if each twin entirely took after one parent.

"It's just amazing, they are so different," she said. "When they were born you could see there was a colour difference straight away. We couldn't believe it. Alicia's eyes were brown and her hair was dark. Jasmin's eyes were blue and her hair was white - you could hardly see her hair or her eyebrows. Someone even asked me if I was sure there wasn't a mix-up at the hospital. But there was no mix-up - they are my girls and they are both so beautiful.!"