Now, 40 years later, a DNA test has shown that the childhood friends are biological sisters. Meena and Minal were left as infants at orphanages in India and grew up in different adoptive families in the Netherlands, just a short drive apart.
Result
Growing up, neither was aware that they had a sister. Their friends were amazed by their likeness and the girls swapped addresses. “It’s like a missing puzzle piece has been found. Ms. She felt loved growing up with Dutch parents and siblings, but at the same time described a deep loneliness. Tears, hugs and laughter punctuated their first meeting since finding out they are related, followed by their first selfie together. Ms. “‘Mina: Sister. I couldn’t believe it. “We were sisters the whole time, but we didn’t know. At first, Ms. It only sank in when she found her on social media and looked at photos.
Then, as teenagers in 1996, while living just 100 miles (130 km) apart, they crossed paths at a gathering for adopted children and felt an unusually strong connection. In correspondence, they jokingly called each other ‘sis’ before losing touch for 15 years. Geltink told her sister on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) at an emotional reunion in the Netherlands: “When I see you, it’s like I’m home. Since discovering their relationship through a MyHeritage DNA test in April, which yielded a rare 100% match, the sisters spend hours every day talking and messaging. Minal Tijssen, 44, said she had no record of any birth relatives. Tijssen didn’t realise it was the same teenage girl who had clung to her when they first met 30 years ago.
“For years, I felt a hole in my heart,” said Meena Geltink, 43, a mother of three, struggling to put words to her overwhelming feeling of joy. Tijssen, who lives in France with her partner and two sons, was sitting on the couch in April when a pop-up on her phone said her DNA results were in. “We were friends before we were sisters,” Ms. Tijssen said. “Now it’s for real.”
