Family

People are often searching for the secret to stop the aging process. But one mom might have just unlocked the secret to de-aging by decades upon decades. Meet Manchester resident Carly Johnson and her daughter Kia Douglas. Mom is 40 and Kia is 17 - and they are constantly mistaken for sisters. The two live in Stockport, and despite the 23-year age gap between them, they are always called sisters or friends. It happens when they go to the restaurant or out to parties. Carly, nicknamed the female Benjamin Button, takes it as a compliment, but has noted some serious downsides to the situation. Carly Johnson has always looked younger than she is Mother and daughter - or twins / Instagram "People call me Benjamin Button and that I age backwards," she shared. "I've always looked young for my age. When I was 21 I probably looked like 16." Now, Kia is 17 and her mom looks just the same age as the teenage daughter. Kia and Carly / Instagram RELATED: 57-Year-Old Cindy Crawford Twins With Daughter In New Birthday Video Carly, who works as a travel agent, reveals that "We get mistaken for sisters all the time. It happens everywhere. I take it as a compliment. We went out for Kia's 17th birthday and I asked a waiter if he could take a picture when my daughter came back from the toilet and he was so confused. He thought we were two friends out for dinner." Carly and Kia looking the same age despite being a 40-year-old mother and teenage daughter is quite the conversation started Carly Johnson, 40-year-old mother of teenager Kia / Instagram Their similar appearance has given Kia and Carly some celebrity status. "On holiday someone told Kia to tell her sister the food was ready," said Carly. "She told her I was her mum and she brought the staff out to show them. They were so shocked." In fact, at restaurants they've frequented, staff members will bring over their colleagues to their table and have them react to the revelation. "Kia doesn't mind it. She's not embarrassed. We're really close and we share clothes," Carly has shared. However, it does get uncomfortable for her, as a mother, when men ask Carly about her "hot friend," adding, "Sometimes I'll post on my story and guys will ask who my friend is because she's so hot and I'll tell them it's literally my daughter. That's a bit awkward." Carly is often mistakenly called a sister or friend of Kia, even though the latter is a teenager / Instagram As to the secret behind her youthful appearance, Carly suggested, "I think my secret is good genes," adding, "My mum's 68 and she looks good and my nana was in her 90s and fit as a fiddle. Hospital staff would read her age out and think they'd got it wrong." Though, she also maintains a youthful spirit, as she revealed, "Even though I am 40, I'm quite young at heart so I think older men have a different mindset to me. I'm still 25 in my head." She tends to date "younger men," and they in turn, she says, are attracted to her being "older." For all the unique situations this has put Carly and Kia into, however, mom hopes they'll still be doing their thing like this when Kia is 18. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CJ (@carlyjohnson.xx) RELATED: Ree Drummond Twins With Her Mom In Cocktail Sipping Photo