Na di same mama born dis twins just minutes apart but dem get different papa

Twins Michelle and Lavinia Osbourne bin always get special connection.

But wen Lavinia check email wey get di DNA test results she do inside, she bin dey fear well-well.

She tok say, "maybe inside my mind, I bin know".

Her test results comot wit somtin shocking, Lavina and her non-identical twin sister Michelle no get di same papa.

Dem bin dey conceived naturally, for di same womb and na di same mama born di two of dem just minutes apart, but na half-sisters dem be.

Wetin cause di birth of 49-year-old Michelle and Lavinia na bicos of one rare biological process wey dem dey call heteropaternal superfecundation. Di process wey e dey take happun be say woman gatz produce pass one egg for di same menstrual cycle, di eggs gatz dey fertilised by different men and di embryos gatz survive di belle.

Only about 20 cases of dis kain tin don eva happun worldwide. In fact, Lavinia and Michelle na di only twins wit different papa wey dem don eva document for di UK.

For Lavinia, dis news make am sad but e no really shock Michelle wen dia mama tell am.

Di two of dem suffer shege pro max for dia childhood as dem just dey carry dem go up and down between homes and carers. Di only tin wey bin dey stable for dem na di two of dem.

Lavinia tok say, "she be di one tin wey belong to me, wey I bin dey sure about. And dem she no be."

But Michelle tok say, "E no surprise me. I still shock say dis kain tin fit happun, e dey super weird, odd and rare, but e make sense."

Michelle and Lavinia mama na one vulnerable 19-year-old wen she born dem for Nottingham for 1976.

Michelle tok say, "She chop abuse from her stepfather hand. My mama bin dey in and out of foster care and children homes for di whole of her childhood."

Whenever di twins ask who dia papa be, dia mama go tell dem say na pesin wey dem dey call James be dia papa but Michelle say, "e bin no dey our lives".

Dia mama bin also dey absent for much of dia lives too. Wen dem dey five years old, dia mama get admission to study for university for London, and leave her children behind for Nottingham wit her best friend mama, wey di twins call "grandma".

Lavinia tok say "grandma bin dey veri strict, not veri emotional, not veri cuddly. Di one constant wey I bin get na Michelle. Na me and am against di world".

Wen dem clock 10 years, di girls bin join dia mama for London. But just few years later, dem take Lavinia and Michelle go one of di foster homes wey dia mama bin stay. Dem bin no understand why dia mama bin no wan dey near dem.

Lavinia tok say "physically and emotionally, she bin always out of reach".

Afta e don lost for most of dia childhood, James enta dia lives wen di twins dey for dia mid-teens. Na Lavinia track am down, but while she bin see hersef for her papa, Michelle no really click. Deep down doubts bin dey.

By late 2021, dia mama don already get early-onset dementia, and she bin no fit answer dia questions again. Michelle see picture of James and e convince am say no way wey e fit be her papa.

Michelle say, "I just reason am, you no even resemble me all. So na im I kon buy kit."

She bin no reason how e go affect Lavinia wen she run am, and di results kon come di day wey dia mama die for 14 February 2022.

James last name no feature for Michelle paternal line - no be im be her papa.

Afta weeks of investigation, Michelle find out say her papa na Alex, wey be di brother of one woman wey be friends wit dia mama. Michelle contact some of Alex family wey bin warn her say e get wahala wit alcohol and drug addiction for years and dey homeless.

Michelle and Lavinia kon meet one woman, Olivine wey Michelle believe say na new cousin to both of dem. Michelle quickly feel connected wit am.

She tok say, "I just know say she be blood". But Lavinia no feel am and wen Olivine bring out pictures of di family, Lavinia no see hersef for dia family.

Na dat time Lavina kon do her own DNA test. No be say she bin reason say she go get different result from her sister, but she bin get feeling say Alex family no be her own.

Wen she see say her twin na her half sister, she bin dey sad and veri angry.

She tok say, "I bin vex for Michelle say she bin make me go through dis, bicos I bin no want dis reality".

And wen Lavinia check di results more, she see say James no be her papa too.

Lavinia bin no get interest to find who her papa be but Michelle bin want answers. So she check her sister results till she find Arthur wey be her twin sister biological papa. Na so di two of dem drive go meet am for im house for West London.

Lavinia tok say "e bin dey nervous small but e get ginger like me". By di time dia meeting finish, she kon kiss Arthur for cheek.

"I just feel moved, drawn to do am."

Lavinia and Arthur don dey close since dem. Dem dey see demselves plenti times a month, sometimes wit Michelle.

Lavinia tok say "I feel like I don find wia I fit belong, and dat place be wit my papa". E don tell Michelle say she sef fit call am papa.

Wetin Arthur tell di twins as to how dem conceive dem

Later, di twins come ask Arthur wetin e know about dia conception.

Michelle tok say, "E tell us say, 'your mama knock my door. She bin dey very upset, she dey cry'. She go meet am bicos she bin no dey safe and she bin dey in shock".

Di twins mama no dey to tok wetin happun but Arthur say she go meet am in her time of need.

Michelle sef use im family members to meet her own biological papa, Alex.

She say, "e bin clearly dey under di influence of drugs. E be mine, I be his but I no feel like na pesin I need to carrry enta future wit me. I bin just need to know".

Di twins no go eva know weda dia mama bin reason say na two men born di two dem.

Lavinia tok say, "e fit don drive am crazy. She fit don see sometin or feel sometin."

Michelle say, "I tink say for di back of mama head, she bin know but she dey in great denial".

As non-identical twins, Lavinia and Michelle don know say dem dey different. In di beginning, di fact say na different papa born dem bin increase dia differences. But dem don dey close for long and very deep.

Lavania tok say, "we be miracles. We go always get dis closeness wey no go fit dey broken".

Michelle gree say, "she be my twin sister. Nothing fit take away from dat".

Photography - Emma Lynch/BBC