'Luminous souls Sufi and Soleil are expanding us in ways we never thought possible.'

Lisa Ray and her husband Jason Dehni welcomed their twins via surrogacy and shared the news with the world through Ray's Twitter page.

The girls, named Sufi (the mystic) and Soleil (French word for 'sun') look adorable in the pictures released.

'Luminous souls Sufi and Soleil are expanding us in ways we never thought possible... and catching me by surprise as I grow into motherhood,' Lisa writes.

'Takes a village, and I am grateful for all your love and support (I’m going to be leaning on some of you for mama night outs and baby-sitting backup as I complete my book).'

Lisa narrates her experience to Bombay Times and says that the couple had an unsuccessful attempt in Mexico, and had to spend a lot of 'money, emotional resources and sleepless nights.'

The surrogacy process finally took place in Tbilisi, Georgia, in June, where the family relocated for a few months for the birth.

The 46-year-old actress, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (a form of blood cancer) in 2009, says that India was the obvious choice for the surrogacy. But a week before they could begin, India outlawed commercial surrogacy.

'We were crushed,' Lisa tells the newspaper.

'Stand back world: here comes Soufflé (Sufi plus Soleil equals the best dish in the universe),' Lisa says.

We extend our warm welcome to the world's newest inhabitants.

Photographs: Kind courtesy Ali Ghorbani