Nov 14, 2017 - Stories

23andMe Reunites Identical Twins Separated at Birth

Twins Wide.001

If you haven’t seen it yet, take a moment to watch Amanda and Katey’s story that aired on Megan Kelly Today.

It is stunning.

Born in Seoul South Korea, Katey and Amanda are identical twins adopted separately by families in the United States.

Amanda always knew she had a sister out there, but Katey never knew until the two found each other using 23andMe.

Amanda, who grew up in California and eventually joined the Navy, first used 23andMe four years ago. Because she didn’t have any family medical history, she took the test hoping to find out a little bit about her health. Amanda knew she also had a twin sister out there, but there were no close matches when she took her test.

Meanwhile, Katey, who grew up in Arizona, but eventually settled in California, tested earlier this year. For Katey, who had no idea she even had a sister let alone a twin sister, the test was something she was doing with her family. She wanted to compare results, and her mom told her it’d be a great way to “learn a little about yourself.” But when they all opened their results the first thing that Katey saw was a match with an identical twin. There was even a photo of Amanda.

But at first, Katey thought she didn’t look anything like Amanda.” Amanda’s in the military, while she is into makeup and hair and being an LA girl, she said. But then she looked at some other photos of her newfound twin, and it was like she saw herself in a different parallel universe.

“It was so odd looking at these pictures of ‘me, ’ and yet I did not know any of the other people or places in (those pictures),” she said.

Amanda had some of those same feelings, she said.

“I was excited and in disbelief but I knew I had a twin out there,” said Amanda. “For Katey, this is a total surprise.”

 

 

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