Korean Twin Sisters Reunited 25 Years After Being Separated At Birth
Two years ago, Korean twin sisters were reunited in the United States. They had been separated at birth 25 years prior. Their story is a touching and, for them, a shocking one.
Samantha Futerman and Anaïs Bordier are their names today, but they have so much in common — they were literally born from the same womb at the same time. It was Anaïs who had first been made aware of the existence of her sister, and the French fashion designer had discounted it at first.
Bordier had been raised an only child in Paris and Brussels and was sure she was just that, though she hadn’t known her birth mother. Even her adoption papers had listed her as a single live birth, according to the New York Post.
Anaïs’ friend had shown her a screenshot of someone who looked exactly like her. Her friend later looked into it and found actress Samantha Futerman, a woman born on the exact same day hailing from Busan, South Korea. Samantha had also been adopted.
The Korean twin sisters, not yet reunited, took some time to adjust to the possibility. The second time Anaïs had caught an image of her sister was in a trailer for a film called 21 & Over, and the actress was the same age as her. The resemblance was uncanny, and Bordier had a hard time accepting the idea.
“I didn’t think she could be my twin. But the resemblance was so strong that I thought she might be related to me to a lesser degree — like my cousin or something. I found her date of birth. What are the chances you find someone adopted from the same country, same town, who was born on the same day?”
Anaïs said she was reminded of the Lindsay Lohan film The Parent Trap, where something very similar happened. It was shortly after this that she decided to reach out to her Korean twin sister, with the idea of being reunited.
Anaïs had sent a Facebook friend request to Samantha, mentioning Lohan and her date of birth, ending with the query about where she was born. This time, it was Samantha who was shocked. Futerman would later tell Good Morning America anchor Josh Elliott that looking at Bordier’s face felt like she was looking in a mirror.
ABC News reported what Samantha’s reaction was to the idea of being reunited with her Korean twin sister.
“On February 1st, 2013, I got message on Facebook from a girl in London. It said she had seen me in YouTube video, then after looking my name up online, saw that we were both adopted, and born on the same day, in the same city. When I saw her profile, it was crazy. She looked just like me.”
One Skype call later, and the Korean twin sisters were reunited, even if just over the internet. The chat had lasted three hours, and Samantha recalled to Josh Elliott that there was a sense of calm and comfort in talking to someone who had, only a month before, been a complete stranger.
“Seeing Anaïs on Skype was unreal. I had never seen anyone who looked even remotely like me, let alone my exact mirror reflection. She had my laugh, my freckles, and that profile. When she turned to the side during that first Skype session, I was blown away. I stopped for a second and freaked out inside.”
Growing up, the Korean twin sisters had been reunited only through very similar habits, including hairstyles, expressions, speech patterns, and even a common dislike for carrots. A plane trip and a DNA test later, the question was answered. They were, indeed, sisters.
When they met face to face, Anaïs confesses she poked her sister’s face to confirm she was real and this wasn’t all some bizarre dream. Samantha had laughed, expecting it.
Even if their birth mother allegedly denied ever having had them, the sisters love her anyway. Now Anaïs and Samantha live together, determined to never be apart again.
The full story can be found in the Korean twin sisters’ book, Separated @ Birth: A True Love Story of Twin Sisters Reunited. Click here to order a copy.
What would you do if you discovered you had a twin sibling at the age of 25?
[Feature image via Anaïs Bordier, Samantha Futerman / New York Post]
