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TWIN SISTERS and partners in crime, Megan and Mikayla were born with albinism, a condition affecting the production of pigment in their skin, hair and eyes. The condition itself is rare, but the odds of two twins both having the condition at birth are thought to be around "one in two million." As a result of their albinism, the sisters are both visually impaired, so they keep the apartment they live in together meticulously organised so they are able to find everything they need. Their skin is also sensitive to sunlight, so they "try to wear as much protective clothing" as possible when leaving home - although Megan admits: "That's not true, but we're supposed to!" The pair are resolutely independent, but they and their loved ones have faced other challenges over the years, mainly due to the fact that the sisters "didn't look like our family" when they were born. At its worst, this meant people accused their mother, Shalella, of cheating on their father. Now, as adults, the twins cannot leave the house without people staring - something that makes them feel like they're "in a zoo and people are just coming by to stare at us." Dating, too, presents its challenges and although Megan is now in a relationship, Mikayla still wants to find the man for her - but admits that: "I just don't go on a lot of dates because I have anxiety about what they're going to say about me." So with a blind date set up and her sister and mom watching on in secret from across the bar, will Mikayla's date respond to her condition in the right way and make a good first impression?
Follow Megan:
https://www.instagram.com/megan_anastasia98
https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_anastasia98
Follow Mikayla:
https://www.instagram.com/mikayla_sym
https://www.tiktok.com/@mikayla_sym
Follow Kemar:
https://www.instagram.com/iamkemar
Videographer: Adams Wood
Series Producer: Kim Nguyen
Producer: Tom Buckman
Casting Producer: Liz Bland, Emily Johnson
Editor: Renee Wong
TWIN SISTERS and partners in crime, Megan and Mikayla were born with albinism, a condition affecting the production of pigment in their skin, hair and eyes. The condition itself is rare, but the odds of two twins both having the condition at birth are thought to be around "one in two million." As a result of their albinism, the sisters are both visually impaired, so they keep the apartment they live in together meticulously organised so they are able to find everything they need. Their skin is also sensitive to sunlight, so they "try to wear as much protective clothing" as possible when leaving home - although Megan admits: "That's not true, but we're supposed to!" The pair are resolutely independent, but they and their loved ones have faced other challenges over the years, mainly due to the fact that the sisters "didn't look like our family" when they were born. At its worst, this meant people accused their mother, Shalella, of cheating on their father. Now, as adults, the twins cannot leave the house without people staring - something that makes them feel like they're "in a zoo and people are just coming by to stare at us." Dating, too, presents its challenges and although Megan is now in a relationship, Mikayla still wants to find the man for her - but admits that: "I just don't go on a lot of dates because I have anxiety about what they're going to say about me." So with a blind date set up and her sister and mom watching on in secret from across the bar, will Mikayla's date respond to her condition in the right way and make a good first impression?
Follow Megan:
https://www.instagram.com/megan_anastasia98
https://www.tiktok.com/@megan_anastasia98
Follow Mikayla:
https://www.instagram.com/mikayla_sym
https://www.tiktok.com/@mikayla_sym
Follow Kemar:
https://www.instagram.com/iamkemar
Videographer: Adams Wood
Series Producer: Kim Nguyen
Producer: Tom Buckman
Casting Producer: Liz Bland, Emily Johnson
Editor: Renee Wong
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00We are identical twins born with albinism and the chances of that is 1 in 2 million.
00:06We are considered visually impaired. Our skin is super sensitive.
00:10When we were born, people accused our mother of cheating because our skin didn't look like hers.
00:16Sometimes it can feel like we're in a zoo and people were just coming by to stare at us.
00:22Today, I'm going on a blind date and I'm curious to see how he reacts to my condition.
00:27I just don't go on a lot of dates because I have anxiety about what they're going to say about me.
00:33Have you ever been or came across anybody with albinism?
00:38Wait, where's the bacon?
00:40Are you going to do the rest of the work while I just...
00:42Get the pan.
00:43Oh, I got to get the pan.
00:47It's horrible for sound. I'm so sorry.
00:49Okay, what else?
00:51Albinism is the lack of pigment or melanin in your eyes, skin, or hair.
00:57Our skin is super sensitive. We try to wear as much protective clothing as we can.
01:03That's not true, but we're supposed to.
01:05Five-year-olds, who wants to cover up?
01:07Right, right. As a 25-year-old, who doesn't want to show a little skin, you know?
01:11Just a little bit.
01:12We are considered visually impaired.
01:14To read things or to view things like pictures or something that has a lot of detail, we would have to get close up to look at it.
01:22As far as the numbers on the stove, we have to lean and look.
01:26And as you can see, Kayla made a mark at the 350.
01:30I mean, we get by pretty good.
01:32We? I get us by pretty good.
01:36I think it really helped us both out when we were growing up that we were in the same situation and dealing with the same things.
01:44If one of us was having a bad day, we'd tell each other, like, I know what you're going through, and I got through it, so you can get through it too.
01:52Exactly.
01:53I don't have to explain anything to her when I do something that requires me to look at things a little closer or do things differently.
02:02Oh, is that Mom?
02:04I think it is.
02:05Hi, Mom. How are you, honey?
02:09Hi, Mom.
02:10Our mom didn't know that we had albinism until after we were born.
02:14We didn't look like our family, so some people have questions.
02:19They thought our mother cheated on my father.
02:22The first assumption that people made when Megan and Kayla were born was they were of another race, they were not his kids, you know, of course.
02:31The fact that our mother had to deal with that judgment when we were born, she had to learn, like, on the spot, like, right then and there.
02:40You know, doctors came into the room and, you know, they explained everything to me.
02:43The more education I got on it, it's like now I've got, like, this big responsibility, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it.
02:49Were you concerned about how they might be treated at school?
02:52I was very concerned.
02:54Well, kids can be mean.
02:56They used to call us white or we were adopted.
03:00Our parents weren't our parents, or someone might copy how we do things, like reading.
03:07We had to hold it closer sometimes because of our vision so that they would make fun of that.
03:13One of the things we started doing so I could try to encourage them is, like, when they would leave out in the morning, like, I'm strong, I'm, you know, smart.
03:21Mom imparting into us that we are all so beautiful and we're all so strong and we can do anything that we set our minds to.
03:29I feel like kept us afloat many a days.
03:32We have a little something planned today.
03:35Yeah.
03:36But we're going to wait a little bit to tell you.
03:39We're going to let it be a surprise.
03:40Yeah.
03:41I like surprises, but this sounds suspicious.
03:43Oh, my gosh.
03:45Okay.
03:46I started posting on TikTok a few months ago seriously.
03:49We thought this would be a good way to have fun and maybe educate people on our condition.
03:56The responses to our content, most of it, like 98% of it has been super positive, but there's always that 2% where people leave mean comments.
04:08Oh, one of the comments asked if we had eyeballs.
04:11That was fun.
04:12Yeah.
04:13I giggled so hard.
04:14That was fun.
04:15It's because of our light sensitivity.
04:17That's all.
04:18We have to squint sometimes.
04:19I promise we have eyeballs.
04:21They're there, people.
04:2398% of those people just want to feel educated and just want to know a little bit about ourselves.
04:30Our future just looks like us educating in a fun way.
04:35I have absolutely no idea what I want to wear, so let's get started.
04:40Okay.
04:41Today, I'm going on a blind date, and I'm curious to see how he reacts to my condition.
04:47My condition kind of has had some hand in how I date, especially with meeting new people.
04:54You have to tell about your albinism and to go into new places where you have to figure out and find where everything is.
05:01Sometimes with me, I just cut out the middleman, and I don't go out at all.
05:06Let me see.
05:07Okay, bright orange.
05:09What do you think?
05:10Okay, yes.
05:11What do you think?
05:12That against your skin would be so pretty.
05:15I just don't go on a lot of dates because I have anxiety about what they're going to say about me.
05:21Ta-da!
05:23Makayla is going on a date!
05:26Okay, Makayla.
05:28So that's what the surprise was.
05:30My baby's going on a date.
05:32Mom, please stop.
05:33Sometimes out in public, it can feel like we're in a zoo, and people were just coming by to stare at us.
05:41For the most part, we ignore them, and since we're visually impaired, we don't see them staring at us anyway.
05:51For the most part.
05:52It is kind of hard dating because I do have a disability with my visual impairment.
05:56I just feel anxious.
05:58Hello.
05:59How are you doing?
06:00I'm Kimar.
06:01I'm Makayla.
06:02I'm Makayla.
06:03Nice to meet you.
06:04Nice to meet you, too.
06:06How are you feeling today, meeting me for the first time?
06:09I would say I'm more excited than nervous.
06:11What do you like to do?
06:13A lot of things, but I'm more into social events like outdoors, movies, stuff like that.
06:19How about you?
06:21Well, I stay inside.
06:24Your home body.
06:28She's so cute.
06:29This is a little different experience for me, but hey, we're here, right?
06:33So I'm intrigued to learn more.
06:35To have a partner who understands me would mean so much to me.
06:40Often, I do get misunderstood for my albinism.
06:44So could you tell that I have albinism?
06:47Have you ever been or came across anybody with albinism?
06:52This is actually the first time I'm hearing about it.
06:54Do you want to share with me a little bit more?
06:56I don't know if you can tell, but I am black, but I have zero melanin.
07:02I'm pushed a lot by others, but I feel like when I grew up and started to become my own person,
07:11it didn't bother me as much.
07:13Well, I think you're beautiful. I mean, you still are.
07:15And getting to know you better and learning more about some of the differences,
07:19I'm more intrigued to get to know you better.
07:21So, I have something to tell you.
07:27Well, hello.
07:28How are you guys doing? Nice to meet you. I'm Kimar.
07:30Hi, I'm Megan.
07:32Oh, hey, Megan. Nice to meet you too.
07:34This is my mother.
07:35Oh, hey, mother. Two beautiful daughters.
07:37See where it's coming from, mom.
07:40Dayle was great, man. She's beautiful.
07:42So, I'm looking forward to learn more about her and see where we get out of this experience.
07:47I want to show people with albinism that, like, it's possible and they will get through it.
07:54We did have a lot in common.
07:56He had a nice smile. I really liked that.
07:58He seemed really nice. I think we could be good friends.
08:01Really proud of them for going out to do something like this.
08:04Because they're, I feel like, introverts.
08:07So, for them stepping out to be able to do something like this, it's great.
08:12I love to see it.
08:13We're out here, we're loud, and we're proud.
08:16And we don't care who knows, you know.
08:19So, and that's how we live our lives.
08:21And I think it's important to show that.
08:28For more information, visit www.FEMA.gov