1. Twins - Part 1

This BBC Podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Fall tastes better with better ingredients from Whole Foods Market. No added growth hormones are antibiotics in their meat department. Means slow braised short ribs are even more satisfying. All-sea food is well caught, like their vibrant sockeye salmon, or verified responsibly farmed. And all sweets, including fall-themed cookies, are made without high fructose corn syrup. Spice up fall at Whole Foods Market. How's a movement that started off as a meme taking on India's Prime Minister? I'm Tristan Redmond, co-host of the BBC's Global Story Podcast. On today's show, we hear how the so-called Cockroach movement has motivated young people across the world's biggest democracy to protest for their rights. How could they reshape the country? For more, listen to the Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you get your pods. First of all, Happy Birthday. Thank you very much. Thank you, 49. Yeah, as young. It's Michelle's birthday today, and Levinia's too. They're twins. What's it like sharing a birthday with your sister? It's special. It definitely is special. It's special to me anyway. I like being a twin. I think it defines who I am. It's amazing to have a twin and have kind of a built-in friend forever. And I think I've been really blessed to go through this journey with someone else. I've got sisters, but I can't begin to imagine what the bond between twins must be like. I'm so sensitive to Michelle, not only because she's my twin, and the love that I have for her, but because I'm very aware of what we both went through growing up. There is an element of me that's always wanted to be protective of her. But when Michelle takes a DNA test, it sets in motion a chain of events that will test their bond in an almost inconceivable way. Life heart sometimes, but sometimes it has to hurt for you to get to the truth, and I'd rather land a horrible truth than live and lie. It's the perfect gift for the person who already has everything. It promises to tell you who you really are and how you're connected to the world. It is a gift, and sometimes when you open your present, it's not something you're expecting, and it might be something that sits on your, you know, bottom shelf. And sometimes it takes a bit of time to realise that the gift is actually something you can use. A present that will reveal your genetic past, but could also disrupt your future. I wasn't intrigued. What am I going to find out? What is it going to reveal? In the gift, I've always looked at the extraordinary truths that can unravel when people take at-home DNA tests like ancestry and 23 and me. I was just more interested to find out who I could be connected to, but I wasn't thinking it would open up a kind of worms. In this third series, I'm asking what it truly means to belong after genealogy, technology, and identity collide. I just didn't want it. I didn't want it. I didn't want this reality. Families reconnected and ruptured. Identities uprooted, long buried secrets brought to light. The global DNA database keeps expanding. How do we find our place in it? It's just mind-blowing, mind-blowing. She lied to me about something that's very, very important. It has created a divide between my twin and I, and I'm so sorry for that. I'm Jenny Cleeman, and from BBC Radio 4, this is Series 3 of the Gift. Episode 1. Twins. I wanted to go to a cabaret show, but Michelle was like, "We could just have a cup of tea and cake." Cup of tea and cake, really, on our birthday. We could do that anytime, you know? So I, I suppose, am the exuberant twin. Levinia and Michelle are twins, but they aren't identical. They look different, and they seem different, too. Levinia, the outgoing one, doesn't have kids. She's wearing a headscarf, as she speaks to me from her home, in South London. Michelle, who lives nearby, is more of an introvert. She's got a teenage son, tumbling curls frame her face. Not long ago, they had a bit of a falling out, Michelle says. We've always struggled with birthdays, because she's outgoing, extrovert, and always wants to do something. And I don't. I just want to eat a Victoria sponge cake, with a candle on and have a glass of Prosecco and be at home and be at home, and this year, because we've had an argument, there's silver lining things that I get to do exactly what I want to do on the birthday. Which is nearly nothing. You know, I mean, you will know, that people are fascinated by twins and the connection that they have with each other. Do you feel that you have a special connection? So, first off, there's a little bit of magic there. I can feel where she's upset, and she can feel when I'm upset, and vice versa, and there's a lot of synergy there. Lavigne has felt it, too. There were times when she, like, sport hot water, and I felt it. Do you know what I mean? But I didn't know it had happened, like on her leg, and then I felt it. So, you could say twins can be similar, but you could also say twins can be polar opposites. And so, I feel like Michelle and I have kind of followed each other through life, in the sense of, I lived in Barcelona when I was 24/25, and then not long after that, Michelle moved abroad to Iceland. So, I moved to a hot country, she moved to a cold country, but we still moved abroad, more or less in the same time frame. You know, we both started businesses. I started my business first, and then she started. I moved out of home and got my own place. She moved out not long after. So, I do feel like we do things on a parallel, but opposite sort of thing. Liv, and you tell me, what was your life like growing up? I will always say I look on the bright side of life and the positives, but the reality was that it was difficult. Their mother was only 19 when she gave birth to her twins, Michelle tells me. My mother would be classed today as a vulnerable young adult when she had us, and so we lived with my mother's best friend's mother that we called grandma, and we lived with a pair from the age of around four and a half until we were around nine, and that was a difficult time because sometimes when you are not actually glad relatives, you're not always prioritized. You say your mother would have been classed as a vulnerable adult. Are you happy to share what made her vulnerable? My mother grew up in a household, Windrush generation, she was born in Jamaica. She came to England when she was five and suffered abuse at the hands of my mom's stepfather, and so my mother was in and out of foster care and children's homes throughout her childhood because it wasn't safe for her to be at home, and then having two babies at the age of 19. I can't imagine that was a good time for her. And from what you're saying, it sounds like when you were growing up, there wasn't a father in your life. So no, we had some inkling of a guy called James, but we just didn't know him, and he wasn't in our life at the time. So my mom always was very ambitious, very wanting to go to college and get an education, and she did. When Levinia and Michelle were around five years old, their mom got a place to study at university in London. That's when she left them in Nottingham, with the woman they called Grandma. I had a teddy bear, we didn't have a lot of toys growing up, and I had thrown the teddy bear into the moving van, because I thought if the teddy bear's there, then I'm going with my mom. And obviously we didn't go with our mom. I missed my mom terribly. Grandma was quite stripped, not very emotional, not very cuddly, and the one constant that I had just growing up was Michelle. My twin sister missed my mother terribly. She was sick with missing my mother when my mom went off to university. I wasn't disturbed by it, and I just thought it's okay. I just think I have that kind of personality where I was able to detach from this whole mummy, mummy, mummy thing. And I'd kind of, at that time, to calm the mantle, although my sister sees it differently, of kind of taking care of my sister. And it was just kind of her and I against the world. And I didn't ever cast the lady that was licking after us as Grandma, nor did I ever laugh at her, because she was a Grandma and I was fine. I had my sister. You had your sister, so having a twin was a comfort in that situation. Absolutely, my twin sister makes me who I am. I didn't feel whole without Michelle. And I just, she was just a sort of comfort and warmth. And when I say warmth, I mean like actual physical one because sometimes we'd be cold and we'd have to cuddle together to keep warm You know, especially at night time in the bed. She was just there She was just there always there. Yeah And as you got older, did you find that you could talk to your mum? Did you become close to your mum? No Physically and emotionally she was always out to reach By the time the twins were around ten years old their mum had started a new relationship and given birth to another daughter She sent for Levinia and Michelle who came to join their mum her new partner and their baby half-sister in London That was kind of a happy time because mommy brought us back into the fold As she was in a relationship and she seemed happy and it was the first assemblance of the kind of all back with mummy happy families That didn't last very long But for that moment it seemed like there was a future there. How long did you all live together then? So basically mummy's objective was to stay with my younger sister's father and he Quite blank refused to raise anyone else's children So mummy's objective was to get us to go anywhere except for being the house and So she paid for us to board at a house, which was actually one of her old foster homes Mummy used to pay them to allow us to lodge at the house and then we went to our school in the countryside So we did that for about a year and a half when we were around 12 I remember calling one one one time Because I missed her she was just really irate with me like why are you calling me? And I remember just feeling so rejected. I just didn't understand you know I'm calling you because I miss you, you know She was always just angry with us telling us off dismissing us not having any time for us. So the dynamic was she was like a big sister to me in Michelle That was her parenting role like I'm doing this because I have to not because I want to Livinia, what did she tell you about being pregnant with you in Michelle and the birth? I know that she was alone. She wasn't supported It was a very uncomfortable and difficult pregnancy from from what I understand and then when we were born I was supposed to be born first But being a bit of a chord. I think it was right to run Michelle's neck And so yes, so she was pulled out first and then I was pulled out and from what it seemed she I Talked all the nutrients because I was like a fat healthy baby Michelle was was not so much It was a very traumatic time for mummy But I don't know anything really about that bit after she just used to say that I was black and long And Livinia was kind of cutesy and chubby and big head of hair I'm trying to imagine what they were like when they were tiny Do you have pictures of yourself when you were very little? I'm noticing on the shelf behind you where the CDs are Is that is that you and Livinia in that picture that is that isn't says look at you guys Yeah, I've only ever seen three pictures of us as under five-year-olds Yeah, so there's probably about in existence 12 pictures of us in total of our whole life up to the age of where we can take pictures of ourselves So little was certain when they were growing up all they knew for sure was that they had each other As the years passed Michelle wanted firm answers How did you come to take a DNA test? So my Mother unfortunately passed away four years ago from early onset dementia and I used to ask her before she became unwell So that was ten years prior to that Well, in fact all the way through our childhood when Livinia and I were able to question our parentage It's a mummy. Are you sure James is our dad? It's James our dad and mummy. Yes, he's your father. He's your father We met him when we were around 15 Levinia instigated a search and found him After he'd been absent from their lives for years the twins finally had a dad and For a brief time Levinia says James made an effort to be present for them I remember him coming to a couple of school plays and I remember him doing a 18th birthday for me in Michelle Which was one of the worst birthdays of my life. It just was awkward There was just an awkwardness, you know when you saw him did you recognize yourself in him? I kind of did but it's interesting because I was a cousin and nephew of his I was talking and he said in the family They don't think that you're his But I never heard that from his mouth and I remember asking my mum many times you see us I mean like is he really our dad and she would say yes, he's your dad you walk like him You were just like him and you've got a nose like him you got that and I'd be like okay. That's who our dad is I have doubts I have the Downed doubts about him so when mummy became unwell and wasn't able to kind of formulate Any sensible kind of responses to my questions. I saw a picture of James and this was probably about Six years ago and I hadn't seen him for a very long time. I hadn't seen a photograph of him Nothing and I saw this patient. I just thought you don't even look anything like me never mind a combination of my mother And you would form me. There's no similarity there I was just no no, I'm not going to have this so I bought myself a kit Fall taste better with better ingredients from whole foods market no added growth hormones or antibiotics in their meat Department means slow braised short ribs are even more satisfying all see food is well caught like their vibrant Sakai salmon or verified responsibly farmed and all sweets including fall themed cookies are made without high-fructose corn syrup Spice up fall at whole foods market How's a movement that started off as a meme taking on India's Prime Minister I'm Tristan Redmond co-host of the BBC's global story podcast on today's show We hear how the so-called cockroach movement has motivated young people across the world's biggest democracy To protest for their rights. For more listen to the global story on BBC dot com or wherever you get your pods In 2021 during the Christmas holidays Michelle gives herself the gift of self-knowledge She takes an at-home DNA test, but of course her results would mean knowledge for her twin as much as for herself At this time I wasn't even thinking about anyone else I was just kind of like I actually want to dispose of this whole concept that this man is my father because I deep down Don't leave his and then it occurred to me that this has wider reaching consequences I wasn't intrigued about what is going to show in the DNA where you're from or you know How much percentage of this you have so when she said you're going to do it my first thoughts was like cool But one was discussing it more and she was explaining why she wanted to do it that she didn't think James was our dad I was irritated by it why were you irritated my thing was why are we gonna dispute what my mother said? That's what she said. He's like that. That's it And I think also part of me didn't want to go down that that rabbit hole because obviously we knew that there was Sexual abuse and woman was childhood and my mom was dying She was dying on valentine's day 2022 while Michelle is still waiting for the results of her test their younger half sister rings with news their mother died that morning So he went over on February the 14th and I stood over my mother and I kissed her and I kissed her hand and just took it all in and then my phone beat Beep beep beep notification and it was the results so I went into the hallway and Looked at my phone and I just kind of okay, let's close that and it's part that because mommy's Passed today now you need to get the funeral people involved and they heard the rest of the thing Did you look at what the results actually said then and there? I did it said James isn't our father Their father isn't James his last name doesn't feature in Michelle's paternal line But the surname that does is unnervingly similar to the one that belongs to their mother's stepfather The man who had sexually abused their mother when she was a girl Things just swirling around my head going oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. I'm a really the product of this Michelle shares her news with Levinia My mother's stepfather who molested her is surname is very similar and I just the thought of that just made me feel sick But it also wasn't the person who you'd grown up thinking was your dad. There was no connection to him And believing me I tried I was trying to say well Maybe he just hasn't done a DNA test. Maybe none of the family have done because there's some people who have just never done a DNA. So if they're not in the system, then how can you find them, you know? Little did I know, what more was to come? And there was so much more to come as Michelle begins to dig deeper into her DNA results. - On the app, it breaks it down where the one will move, twice will move, third will move. So sister or parent or auntie and grandparents. - There was a female relative on Michelle's paternal side. Based on the amount of DNA they shared, it looked like she might be an aunt. Michelle starts researching her online. - Found a picture of her on Facebook, as she goes by the name Makita from the Rastafarian culture. Then we're able to see phone numbers. - Michelle manages to speak to Makita's daughter. Her biological cousin and the cousin has some valuable clues to share. Makita had three brothers. - One of them was far too young and died before we were conceived. So it could be one of two brothers, either an auntie or an Alex. That meant Michelle's father was neither James nor her mother's stepfather, but who was he? - We learned from other family members that mommy and Makita were very, very good friends. And Makita also used to have many kind of parties like Rastafarian parties at her house. And mommy used to run away from the children's home. Then she was 1819 and go up to Leeds from Mettingham with her friend and they used to go to these parties. - Anthony or Alex. Michelle gets in touch with one of Anthony's children, a daughter, Olivine, who agrees to help by taking a DNA test. And so we had to wait the six weeks for her to get her results back. And then it came back that she was only 13% our relative, which means she's a cousin. So we knew that her father, Anthony, was not our father. And the only other man left is Alex. And Alex is the winner. - Alex is your father. - Yeah. The news about Alex isn't good. So I learned that Alex is a really nice man and he's got a really soft spot in everyone's heart. However, he's not in a good place because he's been rubbish by drugs and alcohol and vaguency and homelessness and begging. And he's not the man he used to be. - Within days of Olivine receiving her results, Michelle and Levinia arranged to meet this newfound cousin in person for the first time in a restaurant in South London. Michelle feels a connection immediately. - Just the love, the love and this beautiful girl. And I just knew she was blood. - You fell in love with her. - 100%. It was there. It was just in my heart, my heart even aches now because I know how much she is me and how much I am her. - Where blood? Levinia wasn't so sure. - She was warm and giving and embracing. And then she was showing us pictures and then she was like, oh yeah Michelle, you look like this family. And Levinia, you look like this family. And I was looking at the pictures and like, I don't think like these people are my family. And they were all still a part of me, coping or wanting back. The person I thought was my dad was my dad. Levinia wasn't convinced. All of a sudden we've let our dads, I call dad James, float off into the ether. And now Levinia's sat with this lady, who's supposed to be family, as she just doesn't feel the connection. - But it's not just that she's not feeling it. It's that you really were feeling it. - Yeah. - So you too, as a unit, are pulling in different directions. - Completely. - So I asked them like, but the DNA tests are robust enough for us to trust them. They're scientific, but she had another inkling. She didn't believe that to be her editing. - The doubts ate away at Levinia. - I was okay with the person I thought was my dad not wanting me. But then to just uncertainty and unknown, that's just worse in a way. - Whose idea was it for you to take a DNA test? Michelle's. - Michelle says it was Levinia's idea. Their memories too are not identical. - I don't know why she wanted to do a DNA test because I don't know why she wasn't just content with my results. - So she wanted to take the test rather than you urging her to take it. - Yeah. - She did. - She says there's something to that right. She needed more proof. - And I said I'd do it because I thought I'd be interested to see what the DNA is in regards to percentage of this, percentage of that, da, da, da, da, da. But even so, it sat there for about three months. I just didn't want to take it. I kept looking at it last night. - Why not? Maybe subconsciously I need. But I took it and sent it off. - Less than three weeks later in September 2022, Levinia is at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She checks her phone. There's the email. Her test results are in. And then when I got home that evening, I opened it and I was looking through it. It was this, this sense of dread. Like, like I said, I feel subconsciously, I probably knew something was off. And seeing it there, it was this dread that this thing that made me anxious was real. And then I called Michelle straight away. - She's crying, she's very sad. Really sad. And she said that I've got a different dad. A different dad. Michelle and Levinia are twins born together, grown in the same womb at the same time. But they were conceived with different fathers. It's called heteropaternal superficundation. It only happens when a whole series of unlikely events line up at precisely the right time. A woman has to produce more than one egg during the same cycle. She has to have more than one partner during her fertile window. And more than one egg has to be successfully fertilized with sperm from different men. It's incredibly rare. Fewer than 20 cases have ever been documented worldwide. It's impossible to know the true number of twins who have different fathers. It only comes to light if they both take a DNA test. Once I saw it, I knew it was possible. Of course, it was like, how did this happen? But it wasn't like, that is not possible. That's not something that can really happen. So when I called her, I said, Michelle, this is what it says. And I think I gave her my password details so she was able to go in and have a look as well. And she said, how are you feeling? And I said, I felt hurt, I felt shocked, I felt so many emotions. And I think I cried on the phone. Michelle wasn't surprised. She said, I felt this was the case. It makes sense. It makes sense, like it's my reality. Like it's super weird, super odd, super rare. Get it, it's normal to me. But I was side for her because I think she felt like the tether had been cut. When the tethers are quite often a negative thing. But her tethers were her sense of safety and family. And all of a sudden, she's not 100% my twin sister. And that's what she took away from that. Is that we're not twins. And I just said to her that, you know, we are twins. We're born at the same time. In our mommy's tummy, we're twins. For about a month afterwards, I just couldn't stop crying. I just, you know, and all the people I told, they were like, but you're still twins. She's still your sister. And I said, I know that. But I just feel like something's changed. Like something has changed. She was one thing that belonged to me. The one thing that I was certain about. The one thing that I was sure of. And then she wasn't. And that wasn't all. James, the man she'd hoped with her dad, didn't appear in her results. Livinia had no idea who her father was. Livinia and Michelle are still twins. But now they are our sisters. How will the shattering revelation affect their bond? I'm no deep down in our hearts. She feels like she's lost something of me. And I can't fix that. Next time, Michelle meets her father for the first time. I could see early on that it wasn't something I could continue in. And then goes on a mission to find Livinia's father. I don't know why my sister has done this. I'm so pissed, it's like, I don't want this. The gift is written and presented by me, Jenny Cleeman. The producer is Connor Garrett. You can listen to the whole series now on BBC Sounds, where you can also subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode. What would you do if your deepest secrets were held to run? In 2020, every patient who had used a Finnish psychotherapy service called Vastamo had their therapy notes stolen and held to ransom by a faceless, remorseless hacker. It could be some extortionist gang from Eastern Europe or it could be somebody living next door to me. I'm Jenny Cleeman. Join me as I discover just how vulnerable our deepest secrets can be. I think I'm going to have a heart attack. On BBC Radio 4 and Intrigue, this is Ransom Man. Listen first on BBC Sounds. Is World War 2 back up for debate? I'm Tristan Redmond, host of the Global Story Podcast from the BBC. If you live in Europe or the US, the chances are you thought the rights and wrongs of World War 2 were mostly settled, which is why some of us were surprised to find out that the podcast at Tucker Carlson not only disagreed, but he's been podcasting about it with a British politician. Today on the show we explore why. Listen to the Global Story on BBC.com or wherever you listen.