- Girls born to school caterer Mel Gwynne, 36 – who has a twin sister Sherrill
- Their father Kevin was a twin and so was their grandmother Joyce
- Mrs Gwynne, from Bristol, will feature tonight on One Born Every Minute
- ‘Deep down I’ve always known me or my sister would have twins,’ she said
17:03 EST, 10 June 2014
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17:58 EST, 10 June 2014
Twins are always special in a family but these baby sisters are a truly rare double delight.
At estimated odds of four-billion-to-one, Jessica and Clara Gwynne represent the fourth generation of twins in one family.
They follow in the footsteps of their mother Mel and their grandfather and great-grandmother – all of whom were twins.
Double act: Twins Jessica (left) and Clara Gwynne are the fourth consecutive generation in their family
Big shoes to fill: The girls’ mother Mel (right) said she has an eerie connection with her twin sister Sherrill
Which is which? The babies’ grandfather Kevin (right) grew up with his twin brother Keith
Mrs Gwynne, 36, discovered she was carrying twins at her 12-week scan after spotting the image of a second head on a monitor.
She said: ‘It was a bit of a shock really. Although deep down I think I’ve always known that me or my sister Sherrill would have twins.
‘They did the scan and I could see on the screen they were looking at the one baby and I saw something else which in the corner and I thought well there’s nothing else that could be round like that apart from another head.
‘And I thought no, don’t be silly and then she moved it over and she went “and there’s twin twoâ€.’
The girls – who are featured in Channel 4’s One Born Every Minute tonight – were born five weeks premature and spent the first few weeks of life in a special care baby unit. They are now seven months old.
Family album: The babies’ great-grandmother Joyce Garrad, pictured, also had a twin sister
History: The babies’ grandfather Kevin (left) and his twin Keith being held by their mother Joyce, also a twin
Newborns: Clara (left) and Jessica were born to their mother Mel Gwynne prematurely
The pattern for twins in the family began with Jessica and Clara’s great-grandmother, Joyce Garrad, who had a twin named Margaret.
Joyce went on to give birth to Kevin and Keith, 60, and Kevin and his wife had Mel and Sherrill.
Mel Gwynne, a school kitchen manager from Bristol, is anticipating that her girls will develop the same close bond she shares with her identical sister.
However, she and her husband Chris are adamant she won’t dress them in identical clothes.
She said: ‘My Nan always used to put me and my sister in the same thing and we hated it. We hated being the same because we were separate people.’
At times she has seen spooky visions of her twin which turned out to be true, she said.
‘One
time Sherrill had already gone to school and I was off sick and I woke
up and said to mum “I want to wear my leg warmers†and she said “you’re
not going anywhere, what do you want to wear your leg warmers for?â€â€™,
she said.
Twice the effort: Mrs Gwynne said she always knew she or her sister would end up having twins
Screen stars: Jessica (left) and Clara, from Bristol, will feature tonight on Channel 4?s One Born Every Minute
The school kitchen manager hopes her girls will develop the same bond she shares with her sister (right)
‘And I said
“because Sherrill’s got hers on, I want to wear mineâ€. But I wouldn’t
have known because I was asleep when she was getting ready.’
On
other occasions Mrs Gwynne knew when her sister hurt herself – once
picturing the smiley face plaster the school nurse had just put on
Sherrill’s knee. And she said she often knows when her sister is about
to phone.
In the UK there is a 112-to-one chance of a pregnancy resulting in non-identical twins. US health journal, Forensic Science International, estimate the odds of four generations of twins in one family are one in four billion.
However, yesterday Jane Denton of the Multiple Births Foundation said it was difficult to estimate how common fourth generation twins are as it depends on whether they are identical or non-identical, and a database tracking this information is not known about.
She said: ‘It is terribly complicated. The rate of identical twinning is fairly constant, for any woman anywhere there is about a three to five per thousand risk.
‘But with non-identicals there is a rare gene carried by females. So if a woman carrying the gene has twins, her daughter has a four times greater chance of having twins herself.’
One on each arm: Mel (right) and her twin Sherrill when they were babies being held by their grandmother
Birth: Mel and Sherrill as babies. Mrs Gwynne said she had an eerie connection with her twin sister
How they’ve grown: Mel Gwynne and her twin Sherrill when they were four years old (left) and in a recent photo
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.
Caz,
Crawley,
3 hours ago
My dad has a twin sister, his mum was an identical twin, her mother was an identical and my gran also had cousins that were twins. There are no twins in my generation but when I was pregnant last year (sadly lost it) the midwife asked if there was history of multiple births in either of our families. When I told her she said that they usually advise identical twins are not hereditary where as fraternal twins are, but given my history there was ‘an above’ average chance I could have twins too. I’d love to have a boy and a girl like my dad and aunt – two birds, one stone and all that!
craftyjac,
Lincolnshire,
5 hours ago
My sisters got 4 sets of twins in her family 2 of her daughters had twins as well as her son then her other daughter married someone with twin sons
Gemmap000,
Chester, United Kingdom,
5 hours ago
Love this story! I have identical twin girls myself, my mum is a twin, my father in law is a twin and my sister in law has twins! I’m currently pregnant again and it was the first question out of everyone’s mouth…is there one or two in there!
jessie,
singapore,
6 hours ago
MY Sister and I are identical twins . When we were growing up twins were a rarity , unlike these days ….
We hated being dressed alike and thought to be alike. Twins may have similarites but remember if you have twins, they are two separate people with different temperaments and characters. Dont expect them to be the same. it may stunt their natural characteristics and individualism. I speak from experience.
Iseult,
Cork, Ireland,
8 hours ago
OMG those babies are soooo cute.
Cooper,
Cambridge,
8 hours ago
Not unusual, since the propensity for twins is genetic (or at least is was before the days of fertility treatment began). Love the expression on the little girls’ faces in the arms of their mother_ says it all really!
LOLsushi,
London, United Kingdom,
8 hours ago
Wow, this is amazing
Josephine92,
Los Angeles, United States,
8 hours ago
In our family, it’s five generations of twins on my dad’s side; two of my older brothers are twins, my dad is a twin, my late grandpa was a twin, and his mother was a twin, and then her father was a twin. No-one has felt the need to turn it into media story though. We just need to wait with baited breath to see if either of my brothers end up having twins in the future, but I wouldn’t put money on it, it has to end at some point!
bellangeorges mummy,
nottingham,
6 hours ago
André,
Peckham, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
Bex,
York, United Kingdom,
9 hours ago
I didnt realise this was so rare, we have 4 sets of identical twins in 4 generations in our family ……I just thought we had a “Twin Geneâ€
Love that they arent dressing them alike!
Darklord,
Earth, United Kingdom,
9 hours ago
It’s in their genes
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