Tiny island of Alabat in the Philippines has 78 pairs of non-identical twins and 22 pairs of identical twins ━ including one pair of conjoined twins. The bizarre coincidental baby boom started many generations ago and the island is over-run with siblings of people who look the same.
The latest miracle babies to be born are Gian and John. The oldest surviving pair are 86-year-old grandmothers Eudosia and Antonia Meras, who are now both widows.
This is the tiny tropical Filipino island which has become famous for the 100 pairs of twins dominating the small population.
Schools, homes and families on the tiny island of Alabat are overrun with identical and non-identical siblings.
The latest miracle babies are Gian and John, who happily share their cot.
But as the four-month-old youngsters will find out, looking just like your brother or sister is far from out-of-the-ordinary where they live.
According to local legend, the growing number of twins on the Alabat began many generations ago.
Now there are 78 pairs of non-identical twins and 22 pairs of identical twins – including one pair of conjoined twins. Many of the siblings continue to dress the same as each other into adulthood.
The oldest surviving pair are 86-year-old grandmothers Eudosia and Antonia Meras, who are now both widows.
Antonia, who got married when she was just 19, recounted how her husband quickly learned to tell the identical twins apart.
“In the initial days my husband would often mistake Eudosia for me,” she revealed. “There were some embarrassing moments when my husband made amorous overtures to my sister thinking that it was me. I then showed him that I have a mole on my nose while my sister does not have one. That solved the problem once and for all. Most of us wear identical clothes and people have problems identifying who is who,” she added.
Bryan and Brent Manlugan ━ identical twins who live on the island are related to the youngest set of twins recently born.
‘Twins tend to be envious of the attention, love, care and attention given to their sibling. It’s always the case ━ one is the favourite and the other is not.’
“You might deceive the others, but parents can easily differentiate between us, just by observing our behaviour, even when we try to impersonate each other.”
She added: “Aside from our twin grandmother, my grandfather on my father’s side are twins. And I also have twin relatives. And across the street live neighbours who are fraternal twins.”