Korean American Twins Separated at Birth Find Each Other 36 Years Later
Korean identical twins met for the first time in Florida on their 36th birthday after being separated at birth.
Molly Sinert and Emily Bushnell embraced each other for the first time at Hyatt Centric Las Olas Fort Lauderdale on March 29, according to Good Morning America.
The twins were born in South Korea in 1985 and adopted by different Jewish American families. Sinert grew up in Florida while Bushnell grew up in Philadelphia.
Bushnell is a single mother of one. Her daughter, Isabel, asked her to take a DNA test to learn more about her biological family.
“I wanted to find out if I had more family on her side,” Isabel said.
Since Bushnell was not comfortable with taking the test, she let her 11-year-old take it instead.
Coincidentally, Sinert also took a retail genetic testing kit to look into her health history, ABC6 reported.
When Sinert looked deeper into her results, she was confused by a supposed match for a daughter.
“You share 49.96% DNA with this person. We predict that she’s your daughter,” Sinert recalled. “This is obviously not right, because I’ve never gone into labor, I don’t have children.”
After contacting Isabel about the results, Sinert finally got in touch with her long-lost twin. The sisters shared text messages and photos, finding out they lived almost mirrored lives with their “twin moments.”
“Our senior prom picture … we were both wearing a beaded dress with a strapless style and our hair was exactly the same,” Bushnell said.
Instead of video calling to see each other’s faces for the first time, the sisters decided to meet each other in person on their 36th birthday.
Both women were instantly emotional once they finally met.
“Is this real?” one sister asked.
“It’s real, it’s real,” the other said.
Both agreed it was like looking in a mirror as they shared similar gestures and reactions.
“This is the happiest moment of my life,” Bushnell said. “I can honestly say that. I was robbed of the last 36 years of a life that I could have had with my twin. But at the same time, I’m very grateful and excited for what lies ahead.”
The sisters shared a sweet moment filled with birthday cake and a gift exchange. Bushnell’s daughter and Sinert’s husband participated in the celebration.
“A hole was immediately filled in my heart,” Bushnell said. “Although I have family who loves me and adores me and have been absolutely wonderful, there was always a feeling of disconnection. Finding out that I had an identical twin sister just made everything so clear. It all makes sense.”
The sisters plan to travel together to South Korea in the future. It is unclear to them why they were separated at birth.
Now that they have been reunited, they are ready to start a new life, this time with each other in it.
Featured Image via Good Morning America
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