At the age of 25, two pairs of heterozygous twins discover that they were swapped at birth
Often, in novels or movies, twins are used as a gimmick to create plot twists of all kinds. The idea of two or more identical individuals is very suggestive, and has always tickled the literary or cinematographic imagination.
Sometimes, however, it is not necessary to open a book or watch a film to find stories that are incredible. Reality can be much stranger and more unusual than any author or screenwriter's fantasy.
via CNN/Youtube
In 1998, two pairs of completely healthy twins were born in a hospital in Colombia. They were heterozygous individuals, who therefore have no greater resemblance to each other than normal siblings. The respective families thus brung them home, one taking Carlos and Jorge, and the other William and Wilbert. The former lived in the capital, Bogota, the latter in a rural village in one of the most distant regions. Basically 4 people were united by an invisible thread, far from each other and raised in quite different environments.
In the past, perhaps the situation would have remained undiscovered, and the truth would never have come out. In the modern world, however, it is more difficult to remain hidden, even if it can take some time before a mistake is corrected.
After 25 years, thanks to social networks and a bit of luck, the kids have discovered the unimaginable. The brother with whom they had spent an entire existence was actually the homozygous twin of another. In practice William was the identical counterpart of Jorge, as Carlos was of Wilbert. The reunion scene was filmed and posted online, as well as filmed on TV. When they first saw each other they were strangers, but they immediately felt in tune with each other.
Although distant and foreign, something inexplicable and profound has always linked them. Now they are finally together. A mistake divided them more than a quarter of a century earlier, but now they have put things right and they are one big family.
