Meet The 'Twins' Born With Different Dads! | This Morning

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]Now, it's often said that twins share a special connection, something our next guest, sisters Michelle and Levvenia Osborne, know only too well.

[00:00:07]>> However, despite being born just minutes apart, they were shocked when DNA results revealed an extremely rare phenomenon. They actually have different dads.

[00:00:18]>> Yeah, we're going to speak to Dr. Zoe in just a moment just about how rare and how it can even happen in just a moment.

[00:00:23]First though, Michelle and Levvenia join us. Lovely to see you both. Thank you.

[00:00:26]Thank you for joining us today. Everyone is so fascinated by your story. Um, Michelle, you grew up as twins. You never had any reason to believe that you and Levvenia weren't twins.

[00:00:35]>> No inkling at all. We uh are we are as we always were twins. And it's just the small details that have blown into this huge thing.

[00:00:46]>> And Leia, as I was saying, twins tend to have a connection. They tend to feel the same things that their twin can feel.

[00:00:52]They tend to sense the same thing. And the two of you, you've always felt like you've got that connection as well.

[00:00:57]100%. Um there's I think Michelle and I's lives has always been quite parallel but different. I lived in Barcelona for a while. She lived in Iceland. So total opposite but around about the same time.

[00:01:09]And we both have um we're both entrepreneurial but in very different ways. Like she's more handsy. I'm more uh more >> cerebral.

[00:01:18]>> Yeah, you could say that. So um so yeah, we are very similar but different. So Michelle, how did you grow up? Who was in your family?

[00:01:28]>> So uh we were we were raised by a lady that we called grandma. Yeah.

[00:01:34]>> Uh whilst our mother was away studying >> and so we grew up in Nottingham um in a place called the Meadows and as you can imagine very picturesque and uh green >> green uh but you know with all life's journeys we had our trials and tribulations. Uh but uh and we missed our mom because we weren't with our mom.

[00:01:54]Did you have a close relationship with her though or was it not so close?

[00:01:58]>> So, uh, it was a difficult one because she wasn't around. She was in London whilst we were in Nottingham. So, the the closeness that we did have was amongst each other as twins and that was our primary bond, wasn't it? And then our secondary bond >> was to the lady we called grandma. But Levvenia always always hankered after our mom and missed she was Yes. She missed mommy. so so so much and it was like a period of about five years that we didn't live with her. So I know that had a really strong effect on her whereas I kind of just attached myself to my twin.

[00:02:35]>> Lent into your twin. And what about your father? What did you know about the person that you thought would was your dad?

[00:02:42]>> Um well I just knew his name.

[00:02:46]>> Um and that I mean my mom was young when she had both of us. Well, they're both young. Uh 18, 19 when they had us.

[00:02:55]>> Um and so yeah, I just knew that they had dated for a while. They he had been in our lives. So we were with our mom up until the age of five. Um but mom was they broke up and um mom was always very ambitious. She was studying. She wanted to better herself. And so that's when she decided to go to London and we stayed in Nottingham. So then, Michelle, when did you start to suspect that that man wasn't your father and what did you do about it?

[00:03:26]>> So I So the the guy that we the man that we grew up believing was our father. Uh he was he's a charming, handsome man. And I was always in awe of this man. But I just felt he was always for other reasons quite distant from us.

[00:03:47]>> Aranged. est stranged and it was even his mother would make comments and we heard whispers and he wasn't 100% sure of wanting to be in our lives. So the relationship was very >> inconsistent. That's the one.

[00:04:02]>> Yeah. And I think for I remember asking him there was a time I says you know are you? And he said yes of course of course I am. So he verified it. Um mother whenever we asked her she said yes. M so for me there was no other there wasn't anything else to believe.

[00:04:22]>> So then what what prompted you then Michelle to do that?

[00:04:26]>> So that was seeing my father on Facebook. I saw a photograph of him and I hadn't seen him for about 10 years.

[00:04:33]Yeah.

[00:04:34]>> And there's this thing when you grow older you start to look more and more like your parents or more like their brother or their sister. And I looked at this man and I hadn't seen him for 10 years in a photograph and he was sat next to his son from his, you know, that current relationship and I was like, "This guy is definitely not related to us. This this guy's like he just looked like a ghost in comparison to us. We like I was trying to find a connection.

[00:04:58]I couldn't say this guy is not our father." And that's what in that kind of pushed me to get this test because my mother was unwell and so she wasn't able to uh give us any answers and I just knew I had to find the answers my own way and there was always a question there was always a question somewhere that our father wasn't our father.

[00:05:22]>> Yeah.

[00:05:23]>> You know the guy that we grew up thinking was our father. There was always a question about it. So that was the seed that was planted and then seeing that photograph I was I was >> determined. Yeah.

[00:05:34]>> And so you had the test, you had a DNA test.

[00:05:36]>> Yeah.

[00:05:37]>> And you realize from the DNA test that he's not your father. I mean, what's that moment like?

[00:05:42]>> Um, your world just crumbles. Your whole world just falls down because we have these constructs in our life that tell us who we are, our identity, and all of a sudden this guy isn't, you know, our dad. And obviously we didn't know the full extent of our story.

[00:06:01]>> Uh but it was kind of like right detective work. Who is our family? Who is this person? Uh who is our father?

[00:06:09]And so then I went on my journey and I found aunties and I found cousins. So she says her journey, it was our journey cuz I you know I I didn't I didn't have any choice but to go along. And for me, if I'm honest with you, when she said she wanted to take the test, I just kind of felt like, well, you know, if that's what you feel you need to do, then fine.

[00:06:31]But in my mind, mom had said this, and therefore that is what it was.

[00:06:35]>> You were happy with what your mom had said?

[00:06:36]>> Yeah. But when you found out then about the test, did that just not make you think, right, well, who on earth is our father and what is the scenario? Because it doesn't stop there. No, not only did you then find out your father, but actually then you find out that you have a different father.

[00:06:51]>> Yes. So, um, she that was later on because she Michelle had taken the DNA test. And I think it's important to say as well that the timing of the results coming through was on the same day our mom died. Oh gosh. So it was like one minute after she passed, Michelle gets a ping and then this revelation and it was like the universe was saying it's time for you to know the truth. Um so we went so Michelle went on the journey. I says you you crack on with it and obviously at that time we was dealing with >> a number of things. So um mom's funeral.

[00:07:27]Exactly. So we time went by and I had already ordered my test but it just sat on the shelf and I kept looking at it but there was I kind of didn't want to go down that rabbit hole but then I was like I don't have anything to fear and anyway I took the test and that was about 6 months after Michelle did and it was then two weeks after I took the test >> I received the results and it said 25% and as soon soon as I saw it, I understood what it meant, but it was like my conscious mind was that's not possible or that's not real. Um, yeah, and I was hurt. I was angry. I felt it's okay. Um, yeah, it was it was a lot to take in and I I was angry, but I I also understood why Michelle wanted to take the test in the first place. It was important and it it was a calling for me. I always knew there were questions that were unanswered and I can't tell you how much there was an internal driver with this and unfortunately I did hurt my sister because I did I wasn't I my I wasn't sensitive to her sensitivities around the timing and she wanted to do it on a more longer time frame and I kind of wanted to expedite and open my presence straight away. You need your answers now.

[00:08:55]>> It's an extraordinary thing, Zoe. I like just listening to the girls talk and clearly uh biologically they might not be twins, but there is a connection here that is apparent for all of us to see and they massively still feel connected like twins, but what an extraordinary thing. How very rare I should imagine.

[00:09:11]>> I mean, I noticed they were finishing each other's sentences. So, they absolutely So, they they are twins. Um, and how non-identical twins come about is a woman releases two eggs and those two eggs are fertilized by two different sperm, typically from the same father.

[00:09:25]In this scenario, those two sperms came from different fathers. And th those acts of intercourse could have been up to six days apart because that's how long the the window is. So sperm can survive inside the female body for up to five days and once the eggs released, it has 24 hours. So essentially, they they are nonidentical twins um just that they have different fathers. And it's extremely rare though. There's only been 20 identified cases in the world in the world.

[00:09:49]>> Um this is the only case we know of in the UK and that's because you've got these rare events overlapping. Twins are rare. The scenario of the two fathers within that window is rare and then two pregnancies both being successful and viable. It's rare. So that's why it's so rare. But I also think there's probably a lot of undiagnosed cases out there as well.

[00:10:07]>> Yeah. Wow. It's an amazing story and it I mean it is so rare. But that to see the two of you there holding hands and as Zoe said, finishing each other's sentences, it's amazing how close you are together as well. It's gorgeous.

[00:10:22]Yeah, it is.

[00:10:23]>> I mean, I think one of the key things that we've taken away from this is that we always knew we were special and unique and now it's been verified. And you know, this doesn't take away from the women that we are and everything that we've achieved. And that is also a reflection on our mom and how awesome she was. Um, you know, we decided to share the story because we just felt it was bigger than both of us. Yeah.

[00:10:46]>> Um, and the way that we were able to share it, um, you know, via a BBC podcast, um, it just fitted how we wanted to share it because it's a beautiful story.

[00:10:57]>> It's like you said, just makes you all the more special.

[00:11:00]>> Thank you. Thank you for sharing. We're going to short break. We'll see you in a bit.