The tear-jerking moment when identical twins finally met after being separated for 36 years was filmed on camera and is moving the hearts of thousands everywhere.
One of the women who now lives in Florida learned that a single mother from Philadelphia who was also adopted at birth in South Korea is her identical twin sister.
Molly Sinert did her DNA test, and the results left her completely speechless. “I clicked on the close relative and I didn’t understand it,” Sinert said.
“You share 49.96% DNA with this person. We predict that she’s your daughter. This is obviously not right, because I’ve never gone into labor, I don’t have children.”
Sinert was born in South Korea, but was adopted by an American family and didn’t know much of her ancestry growing up in Florida. It was the same for her identical twin, Emily Bushnell, in Philadelphia.
They studied in school, attended proms, had their graduations, got married and had a child without knowing that each other existed.
But all that changed when earlier this year, Bushnell’s 11-year-old pressed her mom to look into their genetics. “I wanted to do the DNA test because she was adopted,” Bushnell’s daughter, Isabel, said. “I wanted to find out if I had more family on her side.”
Bushnell didn’t want to take it but let Isabel take it instead and Sinert was busy taking the test on the other side.
“A hole was immediately filled in my heart,” Bushnell said. “Although I have family who love me and adore 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 soon exchanged numbers and began texting and sharing photos only to find a doppelgänger in one another.
“Our senior prom picture … we were both wearing a beaded dress with a strapless style and our hair was exactly the same,” Bushnell said. “I realized this is probably one of the many twin moments we’ll discover.”
Now all Bushnell and Sinert wanted to do was see each other in person for the first time on their 36th birthday. It was an occasion the pair will never forget.
“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 cruel reason why Bushnell and Sinert were separated for all those years is still unclear but the twins now plan to visit South Korea together in the near future.
