A news shocked the Colombian scientific community today. Why is? They are the twins who have different fathers. It is really a very rare phenomenon in the world. This seems to have happened only one more time in the history of this country. A group of researchers from the country registered the case. And with that, they drew an important conclusion for future paternity tests.
Doubts about paternity
The birth of twins with different fathers seems to be the beginning of an involvement comedy. However, it actually happened in Colombia. In addition to surprising locals and strangers, it served researchers at the National University of Colombia (UNAL). Thanks to this, they were able to scientifically explain the strange phenomenon.
The case began with the birth of the children in 2018. However, there was no explanation until January 2021. At that point, UNAL announced how the Population Genetics and Identification Group could provide an explanation to the anesthetized parents. The results were presented in a scientific journal.
Investigators were contacted by the alleged father of the twins in August 2018. He doubted the children were actually twin brothers. The scientists decided to do a study known as the “Y Chromosome Panel”. Since both children are boys, the Y chromosome of both had to be identical to that of their father. It is transmitted through the paternal line and does not change from one generation to another. One of the twins had the same genetic profile as the man. Not the other. As a result, it was concluded that the two children had different birth parents.
The Colombian scientists understood that they were facing a case of heteropaternal superfertilization. Something extremely rare.
It almost never happens
It occurs when, after one egg is fertilized, a second egg is fertilized by another man’s sperm. This second fertilization occurs in a separate sexual relationship with an interval that can vary between the two after 14 days.
It was first recorded by John Archer in 1810. A 1992 study by the UK’s RE Wenk found only three of these cases in 39,000 registered twin births. There are currently no more than 19 of these twins in the world.
The UNAL study was published in the Biomédica Journal of the Colombian Health Institute. Provides a conclusion that can be helpful for your population genetics and identification group. They perform approximately 11,000 paternity tests annually. Based on the results, the researchers made a recommendation. In the case of a dispute over the paternity of twins, “it is mandatory to require the presence of both twins in the test to avoid false conclusions.”
