We’ve definitely been bitten by the baby fever bug, but these twin girls — who are making the internet swoon — are totally worth all of the oohs and aahs!
Meet Isabella and Gabriella — two fraternal twin sisters who have stolen our hearts on Instagram.
With their big beautiful eyes and precious baby curls, it’s hard not to catch the fever. But the other special part of their sisterhood is how they represent the beauty of Blackness. They may look like spitting images of each other, but the obvious difference is each baby’s gorgeous shade of skin.
ESSENCE spoke to the twins mother, Clementina Shipley, about her bundles of joy and the social media response she’s gotten regarding their differences.
“Isabella is a calm baby and super laid back. She giggles whenever you stare at her and loves to be tickled. Gabriella started crawling at 5 months as has not stopped moving since. She a smiling ball of energy and loves to snuggle,” Shipley said of the 7-month-olds.
The twins first hit the social media timeline in July when they stared doe-eyed into the camera and instantly made everyone smile. Sadly, some trolled the infants Instagram — Little Strong Girls — because one is of the twins is visibly lighter than the other. But Shipley and her husband are letting the good outweigh the bad and will continue to do so in making sure their daughters always feel comfortable in their skin.
“It has been an amazing reception sharing our babies online, it really shows how amazing Black genes are since we can create such unique babies. We have received a ton of love from our posts. Most people have showered them with positivity. Of course there have been a few negative comments as well, but that comes with the territory. From time to time we’ve ran into negative comments about Gabriella’s color, if she’s loved and if she considered beautiful because of her darker complexion. Also some people think they must be mixed but they are African-American, gray eyes run in our family so two of our three children have them, once again showing how amazing African-American genes are.”
Just when you think Isabella and Gabriella’s cuteness couldn’t be enough, they have a older sister, Angelina who is also as cute as can be.
“Our oldest Angelina is doing great as a big sister, from the day she met the twins she wanted to hold and hug them,” Shipley said of the 2-year-old. “Angelina has been the youngest for a long time in an all-girl family, so I think she was happy to be able to help take care of the babies. Sometimes she is a little rough when trying to play with them, so we have to monitor that,” mom told ESSENCE.
“But overall, she is a wonderful big sister.”
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