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Identical twins raised as sisters by two different Ontario families

Gillian and Lily are 12-year-old identical twins from China who were brought to Ontario by their adoptive parents when they were eight months old.

They play guitar and flute, love Taylor Swift and, like many children (and some adults), used to find clowns terrifying. At 15 months, both girls took their first steps mere hours apart. Before Gillian got braces, one of their favourite games was to swap clothes and get their grandparents to guess which one was which.

Every eight weeks they have sleepovers. Then on Sundays they pile in the car and head to the drop-off point midway between Gillian's Amherstburg, Ont., home and the Keswick, Ont., house where Lily lives with her own parents.

The Toronto Star details the remarkable story of two twins who are growing up as sisters, but in different families. It's an unusual phenomenon that has become the subject of a series of studies on genetic research, as scientists try to determine how much nature versus nurture affects everything from personality to disease vulnerability.

But before the studies, there were two infant girls and the Ontario couples who would welcome them into their homes.

In the late '90s, Kirk and Allyson MacLeod of Keswick, a town one hour north of Toronto, decided to adopt after Allyson suffered two miscarriages. In 1999, they were matched with their daughter, Lily.

At the same time, near Windsor, Ont., Mike and Lynette Shaw learned Gillian would be joining their two older children. Two years earlier, their third child, Jonathan, died from a rare heart defect when he was 17 days old. Though they wanted a large family, the Shaws learned another pregnancy could be risky. They, too, made the choice to adopt.

Before their daughters arrived, the Shaws and MacLeods had met once at a gathering for couples adopting through the same Ottawa agency.

When photos of their babies arrived three months later, the couples excitedly exchanged images in a flurry of emails. It was during this exchange that the Shaws and MacLeods realized their daughters looked strikingly identical. Could they have been promised the same baby?

After contacting the agency, they learned there were, in fact, two different children. However, workers at the orphanage in China said the girls were brought in separately and were not twins. A strange story since the girls also happened to share the same birthday.

Once the babies were brought together, there was no doubt they were sisters. The Shaws and MacLeods received their daughters at the same time, along with three other couples. As soon as they put them next to each other, it was clear they were identical twins. A DNA test later confirmed their suspicions.

Though they lived four hours apart, both couples made a commitment to raise their daughters as sisters. They arranged to meet every six to eight weeks and started considering each other extended family: each calls the other sister's parents aunt and uncle.

"It was like getting married all over again," Allyson told the Star. "All of a sudden you're like, well, we're hitched."

Holidays, weekends and family vacations often get spent together. When one couple comes all the way to visit, the hosting family gives them the master bedroom.

The arrangement has its share of complications, but Mike told the Star they make it work. "It's not roses all the time," he said. "But you have to get along, that's just the way it is. Just like your in-laws."

Part of that effort comes from the mutual respect both sets of parents have for each other and their "guiding principle" that at the root of it all, it's about the well-being of their daughters.

Lily and Gillian are extremely close and say they often wonder what it would be like to live together. While the article notes they sometimes "stay gloomy" for a few days after the other sister goes home, the girls say given they option, they would keep things exactly as they are.

"Because we wouldn't have the experience that we've had," Gillian told the paper. "Like all the stories. Memories. And then I don't know where, like, my mom and dad or aunt Allyson and uncle Kirk would be."

To learn more about their story, click here for the Star's comprehensive report.