Meena Heltink, 43, and Minal Theisen, 44. [Reuters]
Meena Heltink, 43, and Minal Theisen, 44. [Reuters]

Two women adopted from an Indian orphanage into separate Dutch families have discovered through DNA testing that they are biological sisters — 40 years after they were separated.

Meena Heltink, 43, and Minal Theisen, 44, were each left at an orphanage in India as infants before being raised by different adoptive families in the Netherlands, according to Reuters and other foreign media outlets Wednesday. The two families lived only a short drive apart, yet neither woman knew the other existed.

They first met at a gathering for adoptees in 1996, immediately felt drawn to each other, and friends remarked on how much they looked alike. The two exchanged addresses and playfully called each other "sister" in letters — but then lost touch for 15 years.

Their true relationship came to light in April, when Theisen took a DNA test. The results showed a 100 percent sibling match.

Theisen told Reuters she was sitting on her sofa when a notification appeared on her phone. "It said 'Mina = sister,'" she said. "I couldn't believe it."

[Reuters]
[Reuters]

However, Theisen did not immediately realize that her long-lost sister was Meena — the same friend she had been close to 30 years earlier. Only after checking photos on social media did she confirm that Mina and Meena were the same person.

The sisters met for the first time as such on Tuesday in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. They embraced, cried and laughed together, and took their first photo as sisters. Heltink told her sister at the reunion, "When I see you, I feel like I'm home."

"We were friends before we were sisters," Theisen said. "We were sisters all along and we didn't know it."

Theisen, who now lives in France with her partner and two sons, has been speaking with Heltink for several hours every day and exchanging messages since April.


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