Two Indian-born women adopted as infants and raised by separate families in the Netherlands have discovered they are biological full sisters after a DNA test confirmed a connection that had eluded them for decades.
Meena Geltink, 43, and Minal Tijssen, 44, were born in India in the early 1980s and adopted by different Dutch families from two separate orphanages in Mumbai.
Their lives unexpectedly crossed during their early teenage years at a weekend retreat organised by their adoption agency.
The two girls were immediately struck by their resemblance.
They noticed similar facial features, mannerisms, laughs and expressions, even comparing their reflections in a mirror. Although neither knew they were related, the encounter developed into a close friendship that lasted for years.
They kept in touch through letters, exchanging updates about school, friends, sports and music while affectionately calling each other “Sis”. Their friendship eventually faded about 15 years ago as their lives took different paths. Tijssen moved to France with her partner, while Geltink remained in the Netherlands, where she married and raised three children.
The connection resurfaced in 2017 when Geltink submitted a DNA sample to a commercial genealogy platform in an attempt to learn more about her biological ancestry. The test initially failed to identify any close relatives.
The breakthrough came earlier this year when Tijssen took a DNA test with the same service while visiting her parents. In May, the platform identified a 100 per cent genetic match between the two women, confirming that they shared the same biological mother and father.
Tijssen then compared the profile information and photographs associated with the match with images on social media. She soon realised that the woman identified as her full sister was the childhood friend she had once called “Sis”.
Speaking to the BBC, the women described the discovery as a definitive answer to a mystery that had followed them since childhood. Their reunion in August, held in the Netherlands, was their first face-to-face meeting since the DNA results confirmed their relationship.
The reunion also brought their extended families together, allowing relatives to witness the similarities the women had noticed as teenagers. Their conversational rhythms, gestures and movements were strikingly alike.
For Geltink and Tijssen, the discovery has offered a clearer understanding of their shared history and biological identity. They are now planning a joint trip to Mumbai, where they hope to revisit the city of their birth and learn more about the circumstances that brought them together as children, before separating them into different lives.
