Baby twins born minutes apart but in different years

Jaelyn and Luis Valencia were born just three minutes apart - but will have different birthdays for the rest of their lives

Twins Jaelyn and Luis with their mother Maribel (AP)

A pair of US twins who were born just minutes apart will forever have their birthdays in different years.

Jaelyn Valencia was born at 11:59pm on 31 December 2015 and her brother, Luis, was born at 12:02am on 1 January 2016 at a hospital in San Diego, California.

This means that although they are the same age - Jaelyn will be born a year earlier than her little brother.

The twins’ father, also called Luis, told NBC San Diego: "We were actually watching the clock. We wanted to see if we were one of the first ones".

The US Navy diesel mechanic said his wife had wanted them to be born on the same day to avoid conflict over birthdays later on.

Jaelyn was born on New Year's Eve and Luis was born on New Year's Day (AP)

“So it means two birthday parties, back to back”, he said.

The twins - who were originally scheduled to arrive on 6 January - were 18.5 inches long.

Both babies and their mother - Maribel - are doing well.

The twins also have a big sister - three-year-old Isabella - whose father said was “a little confused” about how her little brother and sister arrived.