What she thought to be nothing more than a birthmark turned out to be her twin – a medical condition known as chimerism.
For as long as she can remember, the American singer and model Taylor Muhl had had a unique birthmark that split her torso perfectly in the middle – or at least so she thought. Once she decided to investigate she found out that she was a chimera.
A chimera is an organism, in this situation a person, that has two different sets of genetic codes. This means that Muhl has two
She has two sets of DNA, two immune systems and two bloodstreams, one belonging to her and the other to her unborn twin.
There are few people around the world with the condition. In fact, only around 100 people have ever been diagnosed with chimerism.
It's not as scary as it lookshttps://t.co/YqKRJO9v4L #VampireFacial #KimKardashian #Skincare #Beauty
— The Life Pile (@thelifepile) March 1, 2018
Chimerism happens one fetus absorbs the cells of a miscarried sibling while in the womb, leaving the surviving sibling with two sets of genes.
The diagnosis explained why Muhl had “many health challenges” throughout her life, including autoimmune disease.
Since she has two blood types, her own cells identify her twin’s cells as foreign and are constantly trying to exterminate them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdlcxVXBlYC/?taken-by=taylormuhl
However, chimerism can be very tricky from a legal point of view.
In 2002, a woman named Lydia Fairchild was denied public assistance in Washington state when a DNA test proved that she was not genetically related to her children.
Luckily, her lawyer had heard about a human chimera in New England and proved that she too was one, and that one of her sets of DNA could have been related to the children.