‘I think you’re my sister’: Siblings find each other after 17-year search

Two sisters, who were adopted by different families as babies, have opened up about their emotional reunion after a 17-year search.

Two Dominican Republic-born sisters who were separated after their birth parents gave them up for adoption, have opened up about their emotional reunion more than 25 years later.

Laurinda and Ashleigh were aged two and six weeks old respectively when they were given up for adoption to two different families.

But despite being split from each other, they both grew up with the dream that one day they’d reunite with members of their biological family.

While Laurinda knew she had a younger sister, Ashleigh sought her blood relatives knowing her mother had given birth to her at a young age and thus she expected she may have more siblings that she hadn’t met yet.

Ashleigh with her biological parents, prior to being given up for adoption. Picture: MyHeritage

It was in the days of MySpace that Ashleigh started looking for her biological family, using online phone books and adoption and adoptee websites to search for a match.

Talking on news.com.au’s podcast I’ve Got News For You, Ashleigh told host Andrew Bucklow that luck finally arrived when she came across online genealogy website MyHeritage.

“I was doing my adopted family tree and I noticed that [MyHeritage] were doing a pro bono program called DNA Quest and they basically were sending out about 15 to 20,000 free DNA kits to help adoptees reconnect with their family members that they were looking for,” she said.

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Without a second thought, Ashleigh submitted her story to the platform and received a free MyHeritage DNA kit in return. She used the kit and sent it back in the hope there was someone searching for her.

“[After] waiting and waiting, finally, I got this match pop up,” she said.

Unsure of how she was related to the match, Ashleigh contacted Laurinda via email.

“Hi, my name is Ashleigh, I got a match from you on MyHeritage and according to it, you may be my aunt or my sister. I was adopted at the age of six weeks old from the Dominican Republic. This is my mother’s name. Could you please get back to me with any information and I look forward to hearing from you,” her email read.

Ashleigh pictured when she was a toddler and living with her adoptive parents. Picture: MyHeritage

Laurinda when she was a toddler. Picture: MyHeritage

Meanwhile, Laurinda, who was living in Connecticut, six hours away from her sister in Ontario, was on her lunch break when the life-changing email popped up on her phone.

She had spent the last 17 years searching for Ashleigh, but “fell off the wagon of checking” in recent years.

“I replied [to the email] right away, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you know, I think you’re my sister.’ It was an absolutely unbelievable thing. You know, I ran into work yelling, ‘my sister, my sister’, and it was an incredible moment,” Laurinda said.

The pair then connected over the phone and met for the first time after two “long” weeks, as described by Ashleigh.

Ashleigh with her adoptive family. Picture: MyHeritage

Laurinda with her adoptive parents. Picture: MyHeritage

Laurinda made the long drive to Ashleigh’s house for the emotional reunion.

“It was wild. We were planning on recording it but … [as] we pulled up to the driveway, Ashleigh must have sprinted down from the apartment,” Laurinda said.

“Before I knew it, she was pulling the door open and, you know, we just embraced each other hugging and crying. It was just the most surreal, beautiful thing that I could have ever hoped for.”

Ashleigh added: “I just bolted out of my building … I just ran out there and gave her the biggest hug and we just stood there for like 10 minutes [but] it seemed like forever.”

Ashleigh and Laurinda feel like they’ve known each other forever. Picture: Supplied

While the pair share strikingly similar looks, they also possess similar traits such as their interest in music, sense of humour and the way they talk with their hands.

The pair also have three biological brothers, one who sadly died prior to either of the sisters meeting him, as well as a grandmother, another sister and half-brother.

As for their biological parents, their mother died six months before the pair’s reunion however Laurinda was fortunate enough to have met her and took a lot of photos and videos, which she shared with Ashleigh.

“You know, I kind of get to live vicariously through [Laurinda] and she said [mum] always told her that she would give up her life to find me and you know, we think she probably did,” Ashleigh said.

Ashleigh and Laurinda making up for lost time after they were separated for over 30 years. Picture: MyHeritage

Laurinda also introduced Ashleigh to their father virtually, but he too passed away before she could meet him in person.

Ashleigh said it’s almost like the pair have “known each other” forever, but ultimately the goal for the family now is for all the siblings to reunite.

“I haven’t had a chance to go and meet the rest of [the family] yet … but hopefully, hopefully, some day soon, we’ll get that cash together, and we’ll be able to go down and meet everybody and have everyone together again.”

How they feel about being put up for adoption

Both Laurinda and Ashleigh told podcast host Andrew Bucklow that they don’t hold any resentment towards their birth parents for putting them up for adoption.

However, Laurinda did reveal on I’ve Got News For You that she was “a little bit upset” when her adoptive parents told her that they had the opportunity to adopt Ashleigh as well but chose not to.

They broke the news to her when she was 15 years old.

“Since they had already adopted me, they kind of had first pick to be able to adopt [Ashleigh] since we were full siblings,” Laurinda told host Andrew Bucklow.

“But at the time I was two years old, I’m sure very much of a handful, so unfortunately my parents didn’t take up that opportunity to be able to adopt her as well.”

While Laurinda admits she was upset and slightly “discouraged” by the news, it did motivate her to start looking for her sister.

“There’s absolutely no resentment in any way, you know, everything happens for a reason,” Laurinda said. “We’re just honestly blessed to be able to have this opportunity to connect with each other and find each other after all these years.”