Two Women Reunite as Biological Sisters After Decades-Long Search

Meena Geltink, 43, and Minal Tijssen, 44, learned through a MyHeritage DNA test that they are 100 % biological siblings. The sisters now spend several hours each day talking and messaging.

People MagazineTwo Women Who Met as Teens Discover They Are Biological Sisters 40 Years Later

Both women were abandoned as infants in Indian orphanages and were adopted by separate families in the Netherlands. In 1996, while teenagers living about 100 miles apart, they attended a gathering for adopted children, exchanged addresses, and kept in touch for a time, jokingly referring to each other as “sis.” After roughly 15 years of lost contact, each continued life unaware of the other's existence.

Two Women Who Met as Teens Discover They Are Biological Sisters 40 Years Later

In April, Tijssen received a MyHeritage notification indicating a sister match. After searching social media and recognizing old photographs, she realized the match was Geltink, the friend she had met three decades earlier. NBC News reported that the DNA analysis showed a rare 100 % match, confirming they are full biological sisters.

People Magazine

Since the discovery, the pair have integrated the newfound relationship into daily life, sharing hours of conversation, selfies, and mutual support.

Two Women Who Met as Teens Discover They Are Biological Sisters 40 Years Later

• “For years, I felt ?a hole in my heart. [Now] It’s like a missing ?puzzle piece has been found,” — Meena Geltink

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