Aahana Swrup
Two sets of fraternal twins, grown up in different parts of Colombia, found their lives turned upside down when they discovered their identical counterparts years later. At 25, Jorge Bernal’s friends from Bogota happened upon another man, William Cañas Velasco, who was the carbon copy of the former. Furthermore, upon investigation, they realized that Velasco had a fraternal twin, Wilber Canas Velasco, identical to Bernal’s brother, Carlos Bernal. As such, after working through a jumble of emotions— ranging from curiosity to apprehension— the four discovered that William and Carlos had accidentally been swapped at birth. Thus, the life-altering error landed the pair of twins in their current predicaments. Netflix’s documentary, ‘The Accidental Twin,’ delves into the same story and explores the emotional and psychological ramifications of the swap and the changes its discovery brought to the twins’ lives.
Jorge Bernal and William Cañas Velasco: Reunited After 25 Years
On December 21, 1988, Jorge Bernal and William Cañas Velasco were born in Bogota at the Materno Infantil Hospital. A day later, another set of twins, Wilber and Carlos, were born in the Santander province. After Carlos fell ill, his mother, Ana Delina, sent the newborn with his grandmother to Bogota for a doctor’s visit. While at the hospital, the boy’s aunt looked after him and took him back home after his treatment. However, due to a mix-up at the hospital, Delina’s sister ended up leaving with William rather than leaving with Carlos. The family remained oblivious to the same and raised William and Wilber side-by-side, assuming they were fraternal twins.
Likewise, in Bogota, single mother Luz Marina Castro raised Jorge and Carlos as brothers, none the wiser about the accidental swap. Thus, the pair of twins grew up with a false understanding of their reality. Eventually, in 2013, a twist of fate led Jorge’s friends, Laura Vega Garzó and Yenneth, to a Butcher shop in northern Bogotá, where they came across William. Consequently, as the friends communicated the same with Jorge, a social media search followed, which unraveled into the discovery of the Bogota and Santander twins’ past.
Meanwhile, William came to know about Jorge through a friend of a friend and reached out to his estranged and unknown twin. Thus, Jorge and his twin met up in 2014, leading to a meeting between Carlos and Wilber as well. Although the unraveling of their outlandish past led to certain complications, it also ended up changing the twins’ lives for the better.
William Cañas Velasco Found Two New Brothers
The revelation of the twin swap brought a complicated mix of emotions for the Cañas Velasco and Bernal brothers. For once, each of them discovered the man they grew up with wasn’t actually their biological twin. Similarly, it also introduced complicated emotions for William Cañas Velasco and Carlos Bernal, who realized they weren’t biologically related to the families they grew up with. The same remained a particularly devastating discovery for William since his and Jorge’s birth parents had passed away by the time the twins reunited. Therefore, the former couldn’t help but feel robbed of knowing his birth mother and father.
Meanwhile, William’s family in Santander worried he might abandon them in the wake of the discovery. Nonetheless, his love for the family he grew up with never faltered. William, alongside Jorge, Wilber, and Carlos, was able to embrace their new familial ties without abandoning their old ones and became one big unit. Thus, William remained close to Wilber and his family and formed a close relationship with his identical twin, Jorge. Not only that, he also built a strong brotherhood with Carlos and even named him his son’s godfather. Currently, William remains close to his adoptive family as well as his biological one. Recently, the family celebrated Ana Delina’s 80th birthday, gathering together for a grand celebration in April. William shared memories of the same on his Facebook page, where he often updates his followers on his regular life.
William Cañas Velasco is in Politics
William and his brothers; unique situation garnered significant attention from geneticist research sectors and the general media. As such, the brothers could often be caught on various news channels for interviews or segments back in the mid-2010s. Since then, their public appearances have significantly decreased as the brothers returned to their lives away from global attention. Still, William’s social media accounts serve as a peek into his personal life. William is professionally interested in politics and aspires to be mayor should the opportunity arise.
Back in the 2010s, while working at the butcher shop, he put himself through college at Uniciencia Bogotá and earned a master’s in constitutional law. Furthermore, after working toward a law degree, he went on to study specialized law and secured a degree in the same field in 2022. Through his various undertakings, he found support in his family, especially his brothers, Wilber, Jorge, and Carlos. In fact, in 2016, the brothers were instrumental in William’s municipal election campaign to become council members of La Paz.
While he lost the elections back in 2016, by 2020, the Santander town of La Paz elected William a council member by popular vote, setting him up on a path to pursue a career in politics. Outside of his career, he seems to enjoy spending quality time with his family and community. From engaging in the locality by visiting farms surrounded by crops and cattle to overseeing various constructions, the La Paz council member often shares updates about his ventures on his Facebook profile. Likewise, fans can find consistent updates on his time with his family, including his wife, Karina Diaz Sanchez, and their kid.
Jorge Bernal Is a Mechanical Engineer
Much like William, Jorge Enrique Bernal Castro also faced some complications in the aftermath of the discovery that he wasn’t related to Carlos by blood. Therefore, to affirm his brother’s place in his life, regardless of their blood connection, Jorge got a tattoo of Carlos’ face on his chest beside the tattoo commemorating their mother. Since the spot was previously reserved for the duo’s sister, his decision remained that much more significant. Likewise, Jorge also embraced his twin brother, William, and his family from Santander.
Even though Jorge has no technical ties to the Cañas family, he has become a cherished part of it due to his connection to his brothers. As for his private life, he prefers to keep his personal matters under wraps. Therefore, while his profession as a mechanical engineer in Bogota remains public knowledge, little else is known about him. Still, even though he sports no evident public social media— preferring to maintain a private Instagram account— fans can find glimpses of him across his brothers, William, Wilber, and Carlos’ accounts.
Read More: Carlos Bernal Castro and Wilber Canas Velasco: Where Are the Identical Twins Now?
