As twins we've always done everything together - and we'll be giving birth on same day too

Charlotte and Kirsty Ford not only have the usual extraordinarily close bond you’d expect from identical twins – but they share a string of astonishing coincidences too.

The sisters said their first words and took their first steps within minutes of each other. They got their first teeth on the same day, were always identical heights and even started their periods within 20 minutes of each other.

What’s more they shared the same grades throughout primary school.

As adults, the pair expected to drift in different directions as they settled down with partners and concentrated on their careers. But now the amazing coincidences are carrying on... in every sense of the word.

Because Charlotte and Kirsty, 29, are both pregnant with their first babies. Both will be boys and are due the same day.

Charlotte says, “I remember Kirsty ringing me at 6.30 one morning, shrieking with joy to tell me she was pregnant. I thought I was coming out in sympathy for her because I felt decidedly iffy. All through life, whenever Kirsty was ill I’d experience horrible queasiness.”

Just a week later, Kirsty’s phone beeped with a text from Charlotte containing a picture of a positive pregnancy test. Kirsty says, “I rang her straight away and said, ‘Are you joking?’ I was stunned because I’d been trying for a baby for 18 months whereas Charlotte and her partner Laurence had only been trying for two. And I was thrilled because I’ve always described Charlotte as my ready-made best friend for life – and now we can hold hands through pregnancy.”

At the twins’ 12 week scans, both were given the due date of August 13.

“Our partners’ jaws dropped,” says Kirsty. “My husband Paul said conceiving on the same day was unbelievable. But I said it was inevitable. Charlotte and I have always been completely in sync.”

After her 20-week scan Charlotte rang Kirsty with more news. “I’m expecting a boy,” she said. Two days later Kirsty rang Charlotte to say, “Me too”.

Now, as their tummies swell to the same size, both have cravings for tangy citrus fruits and discuss their synchronised pregnancy symptoms in daily phone calls. Charlotte, who lives in Devon and works as an office administrator, says, “On the odd day I endured morning sickness, I knew Kirsty would too. It’s such a comfort to have someone who understands every emotion and symptom of pregnancy at the same time.”

The odds of twins expecting babies on the same day are 150,000 to one. But those who know of Charlotte and Kirsty’s incredible parallel lives aren’t surprised at the duplicate due dates. When they were babies, the only way their mum Sue could tell them apart was by tying a pink ribbon around Charlotte’s ankle and a blue one around Kirsty’s.

They were laid at far ends of their cot to sleep – but in the morning would wake in a hug. Even before they could speak, the little girls had a way of communicating that baffled their family.

Charlotte, born two minutes before Kirsty, explains: “Mum says one day, as tiny toddlers, we were playing out in the garden but I became very distressed and kept screaming and pointing at the garage.

“I grew more and more agitated until Dad opened the garage door. No one knew Kirsty had got in there and had become trapped under a box. I stopped crying the moment she was freed.”

Kirsty adds, “When we were small we loved singing. Mum says that, without any discussion or cue, we would both break into the same song at the same time and sing in perfect harmony.”

The pair, who grew up in Devon, had the same group of friends throughout their school days. But when they were split up in the first year of secondary school they failed miserably at all their subjects because they missed each other. Teachers listened to their pleas and allowed them back in the same classes in second year, which they sailed through.

When Kirsty went to university in Bristol, she hated being apart from Charlotte so much that for the second year she transferred to Plymouth university where her sister was studying. Again both their grades improved. “We always do better together,” says Charlotte.

The sisters share some strange twin phenomena too. Apart from their hair the only thing distinguishing them is tiny birth mark Kirsty has under her left eye. When Kirsty feels ill it fades and a birth mark on exactly the same spot on Charlotte’s face appears.

Today they live a 30-minute drive away from each other, speak at least once a day and both get on brilliantly with each other’s partners. But Charlotte was very emotional when Kirsty married Paul Matthews three years ago.

“Charlotte cried and said she was upset that we wouldn’t have the same surname any more,” says Kirsty, who lives in Cornwall and works for her local council. “I told her we’ll always be really close sisters.” Charlotte laughs at the memory saying, “I love Paul to bits but a small part of me felt I’d lost a bit of my twin.”

The sisters have never shared a boyfriend – although Charlotte, the more extrovert of the two, sometimes dated boys Kirsty secretly liked.

Paul and Charlotte’s partner Laurence find it hard to understand the intensity of their bond. Charlotte says: “Laurence can’t get his head around the fact Kirsty and I can chat non-stop on the phone every day, yet still can’t stop talking whenever we see each other.

“We meet each other a few times a month, but are in constant contact by phone, Facebook and email. I don’t think Paul or Laurence could cope if we saw each other more than we do, because when we’re together we never shut up!”

Kirsty adds, “We try not to live in each other’s pockets, but it’s hard staying out of each other’s personal lives because we see each other as the other part of ourselves.”

The strong connection doesn’t mean Charlotte and Kirsty don’t fall out. Kirsty says: “We never bicker. Instead we have full-on blazing rows – but they always blow over and we’re friends very soon.

“Growing up, our elder brother Scott used to try to get between us to stop our arguments but then we always turned on him. We only argue if we’ve spent too much time together because we both find it hard to stay out of each other’s lives.”

Thankfully they haven’t fallen out over choosing their babies’ names and haven’t picked the same ones. Kirsty says: “Paul and I are going to decide our son’s name when he’s born, and Charlotte and Laurence have settled on their name which I like but am keeping secret.”

Meanwhile, both hope they don’t go into labour simultaneously.

Kirsty says, “We’ll be giving birth in the same hospital, so I hope Charlotte and I can be as far away from each other as possible on the labour ward.

“Knowing my sister is in pain is more upsetting to me than dealing with my own pain. I used to cry as a child when she had an injection but could cope with my own, and vice versa.

“We can’t bear the thought of the other being in pain so we are praying we don’t go into labour at the same time. But we won’t be the least bit surprised if we do.”

The sisters also hope their babies aren’t late, because they celebrate their 30th birthdays on August 27.

Charlotte explains, “Not only might our babies share the same birthday, but they may also have to share it with their auntie and mum – poor things.”