Bjorn Burke, Staff Reporter

Having gone to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) in Kingston, Paula Byfield knew she was due twins, but was expecting a boy and a girl.

Unbeknownst to her up until just minutes after delivery, she was given confirmation that she became mother to baby girls - Shyan and Syan - at the age of 34. She could hardly believe it.

"So it happened that at the time, after I delivered them, there was a midwife who came to discharge me and the midwife read what was on the paper and she questioned the fact that it said two different things," Byfield told THE STAR. "They're identical, 25 minutes apart. I was informed that, up to a couple minutes prior to delivery, that I was going to have a boy and a girl; even after doing the ultrasound. The paper said it was a boy and a girl but she reported that it was instead two girls,"

The mother of two recounted that she was pleasantly surprised with the bouncing baby girls.

Twins characteristically spend quite a bit of time together, and this is no different for Syan and Shyan Byfield. This, however, has no bearing on their individuality in which they express unapologetically. But still, the girls' mother maintains that they seem to be more similar than dissimilar.

"Their personalities seem to interchange. I can't say one is different from the other in terms of maybe for couple weeks, maybe as much as a month, one may be more aggressive than the other and then it interchanges on a regular basis." she said. "They are pretty similar, but alternately,"

The six-year-old girls, who attend the Grants Pen Primary and Infant School in Albion, St Thomas, have made it clear that they intend to embark on different professions in life.

"When they have career day, Syan, who is the younger of the two, often says she wants to be a police officer. Shyan in turn will say that she wants to be either a doctor or a teacher. I'm certain of Syan, she is very adamant about being a police officer. If Shyan chooses to change professions, Syan is adamant that that's exactly what she wants to be," the mother said.

The two exemplify distinct qualities in which only the keen eye of a mother could detect.

"Syan is more sociable than Shyan is. Shyan is more observant; but they both love to interrogate individuals - from your date of birth right down to your blood type - they're very friendly," she said.

The grade one students appear to take their schooling seriously as they are often found at play with older siblings who come together to host their very own rendition of academic quizzing competition Schools' Challenge Quiz.

The pair often go head-to-head in competition as they pick secondary schools which they favour, while an older sibling would take on the role of quizmaster.

The girls remain playful and focused as they look forward to their 7th birthday in September.