Few years ago, everybody was taking DNA tests. It was a global phenomenon that spread out to the vast majority of people. As of today, 26 million people get tested per year.
Everyone wants to find out more about themselves! But while it sounds like a fun activity to spare some time and money on, some people are never truly prepared to discover major secrets about their lives. That was the case with Molly Sinert who decoded to take a DNA test but got the most unexpected news she could ever have imagined.
Many of us would take DNA tests for fun. Saying you’re 4% Greek was cool to stitch to your resume, right?
While many took these tests for giggles, there were others concerned for their health. Genetic testing is an important tool to use in analyzing different conditions, and often these results can help with the diagnosis of a disease.
Molly Sinert is the protagonist of our story. She is a 36 years old woman who lives in Florida with her husband and her adoptive family.
As every other DNA tester, she was interested in learning more about who she is. What she would eventually find out, however, changed her life forever.
The adoptive parents had picked Molly up from the airport when she was just a baby. She was immediately amazed by her mother’s blonde hair! Even as a baby, Molly knew something was different in her life.
She was a baby from over the seas who'd arrived to an entirely new family, where she was loved and cherished! She didn't intend to search for her birth family, since she was already fulfilled by the one who raised her.
Emily Bushnell lives in Pennsylvania with her daughter, Isabel. She is a single mother who was adopted as a baby.
Much similar to Molly's situation, Emily would grow up in a different household than that in which she was born. She never had the chance to meet her birth parents, which she didn't mind.
One day, her daughter Isabel proposed she take a DNA test. It was an exciting thing for a child to do, especially when her mother is everything she has. Isabel wished this be a chance to reconnect with her mother’s side of the family.
Maybe even learn more about who she is! But she could've never anticipated what happened next.
Miles away was Molly Sinert, who was living her life to the fullest! She had a beautiful childhood she frequently reminisces on, such as owning a cat named Whiskers and sporting fashionable hairstyles to the ball proms.
She had little reason to ever desire something different, yet the decision to take a DNA test twisted the narrative far too much to return to that life.
Everything in her life was pretty much perfect. She loves her adoptive parents and has rarely thought about her birth parents on the other side of the ocean.
There wasn’t much to remember, after all, and she would rather focus on the present rather than the past.
She was still persuaded to take a DNA test, but it was for health reasons. Given she was adopted, Molly never knew what to expect from her health.
And the trend for DNA testing was catching more and more attention, it was only natural to wish to partake.
Does she have any hereditary diseases? Is she perceptive to a particular illness her birth parents might’ve possessed?
How’s her genealogical line looking in terms of lifespan? Well, she was about to find out.
It was only natural to be questioning details about her heritage her adoptive parents might have not known about, or simply refused to tell her.
After all, she was 36 and reaching the time where health may impose serious concerns for each individual.
Miles away, the universe was plotting different as another family had the same idea to do a DNA test. Isabel Bushnell was a child with a mission to find more of her family.
As someone with a single parent, she didn’t have many people around her to begin with.
She hoped for a happy ending. And she believed her mother was just as curious as she was to learn more about where they come from.
Even if Emily was against the idea at first, her daughter had her ways to get what she wanted. The question remains, was this a truth they were better off not knowing?
Isabel could not understand why her mother was against the idea. It was such a cool thing to do. Maybe she was just nervous.
Afterall, she’d never met her real family, and lived all her adult life in the dark about this subject. Well, not anymore. As the truth was about to be exposed.
Emily Bushnell had a good life in Pennsylvania. But she decided it might do some good to learn about her family history. As a child, she loved her cat and had an unique sense of fashion that couldn’t go unnoticed since early childhood!
She thought she was pretty unique in that regard. However, that was soon to change.
When the DNA tests came back, Molly was stunned. She was convinced the results were wrong, and there had to be a mistake somewhere down the line of testing. There was no way the DNA test was right about her!
Were they all wrong? She couldn’t believe doctors confirmed these results.
Molly’s DNA test stated she had a 49.96% matching DNA with someone else right in the United States. But how was that possible?
As far as she knew, no family member of hers came to the States save for her! They had to be overseas.
More than that, the person with the matching DNA was a little girl! She was young enough for Molly to be her mother, which the doctors assumed she was.
The percentage was too high for Molly to be anything else, but the woman was completely in denial. Absolutely no way.
It’s impossible! Molly protested, reading her DNA results over and over again. How could she be a mother, when she has never gotten pregnant?
She needed a clear explanation as to why this little girl was showing as her genealogical daughter. So she’d contact the family.
Isabel and her mother were just as shocked. No way a stranger had the potential to be her mother, when her mother was standing right next to her!
There had to be a reason why she shared such a high percentage of a matching DNA with this woman, and after contacting each other, they figured out exactly why.
Molly Sinert and Emily Bushnell are related! Of course they are, or else this wouldn’t have been possible.
But more than coming from the same family, Molly and Emily are so closely related it has made it possible for Emily’s daughter to come off as Molly’s. How?
They were twins! Molly and Emily were twins separated at birth. They figured so much out from noticing how their lives have been.
Both were born on the 29th of March 1985, and were adopted from South Korea shortly after their birth. Molly quickly put the pieces together.
Both had their respective cats and their matching hairstyles, going as far as aiming even for the same style in their senior profile picture!
Nothing managed to keep them away from one another, they had the same spirit.
It was incredible! Someone from miles away to prove to be so important after an innocent DNA test?
Even Isabel couldn’t believe it, and she was the one who wanted to find out more about her family.
To make the deal feel even more real, the twins agreed not to facetime or video call until meeting each other in person. They abstained for so long until they were finally able to close the distance and meet in real life.
After having lived in each other’s proximity for so long without knowing, it was a fair deal.
They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It’s like looking into a mirror!
Remarked Molly, overwhelmed with emotion right inside the airport station. After many embraces and tears of joy, the sisters accepted that everything they had learned was true.
They were long lost siblings. It happens frequently with babies who are adopted in foreign countries, and the reality is most never end up meeting one another.
But Molly and Emily were more than lucky to find out about one other’s existence.
The single difference in their appearance would prove to be their height.
One twin was half an inch taller than the other, which they would tease each other about, commenting about how they could’ve been like that in the womb too.
Their respective families are in shock as well! This is a one in a million chance to happen, and for the twins, the happiest outcome which could’ve ever come out from a DNA test.
Neither was looking for this kind of connection, but both are extremely grateful for it.
The sisters intend to make up for the time lost. They’re looking forward to a fulfilling life together, in the presence of a loving family and many more memories to unlock!
Molly started this journey hoping to learn about her health, but ended up with the most important person from her life thanks to it!