Two albino sisters have caused a stir in their home country of Kazakhstan and raised questions about who their real father was.

Asel and Kamila Kalaganova were born 12 years apart and are now in high demand as models in their homeland.

Kamila is two today and her elder sister is 14 but their brother Aldiyar, eight, has a more conventional Kazakh appearance.

'People are surprised that we are albino,' said Asel.

'Many people do not know what albinos are.'

Her mother, Aiman Sarkitova, 38, was also shocked when she was born, and doctors at first almost caused a scandal by suspecting the girl had an ethnically Russian father.

Asel was ten when she started modelling but Kamila's arrival prompted more interest and the teenager now has 23,800 followers.

'When I gave birth to my eldest, genetics were not so developed with us,' said her mother.

'It is developing only now.

'The doctors were shocked, and thought that she was Russian,' recalls Aiman Sarkitova, their mother.

'Then I started reading about this matter, I have learned that my children are albinos.

'At the very beginning everyone was shocked, surprised. I did not know what to do myself, how to live.'

It turns out that there were albinos among her ancestors although she was unaware of this.

The girls have to take care to stay out of the sunlight.

'If I go outside in the afternoon, then I definitely apply sunscreen, put on clothes to protect my skin, headgear or use an umbrella,' said Asel.

'In the evening, when there is almost no sun, it's much easier for me.'

The girls also have eye problems and Asel wears glasses.

When she was younger, Asel went to a special school for handicapped children but later transferred to a regular one.

'She studies perfectly well,' said her mother.

'Albinos do not differ much from other children, only their hair, eyelashes, eyes, and skin colour.

'At first it was difficult, of course, the children stared at her.

'Now she feels good, we do not limit her to anything.'

But wherever they go, they get a lot of attention and Asel has recently finished modelling school.

Ms Sarkitova said that her son's skin looks just like his father's.

'He is dark-skinned, a real Kazakh,' she said.

'Until the younger one was born, he did not ask any questions.

'But when Kamila was born, he began to say: ''Mum, why are they like that? Why am I not like them, not like my sisters?''

'He realises that people are looking at the girls, and even begins to boast, proudly telling people about his unique sisters.'

Ms Sarkitova has encouraged Asel to meet and talk to other Albino teenagers to discuss their common problems.

'Aktau is very hot and humid,' she said.

'Asel goes to school in sunglasses and with an umbrella.'

The family may move to a more temperate city like capital Nursultan, formerly called Astana, she said.

This article has been adapted from its original source.