Anais Bordier, was aware that she had been adopted as a baby in South Korea, but she was unaware that she had a twin who had been separated at birth.
That is, until a friend sent her a picture of Samantha Futerman, an American actress who looked exactly like her.
Anais watched Samantha’s videos on YouTube and looked into her background, discovering that they shared the same birthday and were both adopted.
Anais sent Samantha a Facebook friend request with the message “I was wondering where you were born?” and the two met up, which she described as “like the biggest blind date.”
Anais, an only child raised in Paris, and Samantha, one of three children raised in the US state of New Jersey, were both shocked when they discovered they were sisters.
Against all odds, the two had found each other and discovered a long-hidden secret.
Anais was born to a single mother and had no siblings, according to her paperwork in Busan, South Korea.
When a friend tagged her in a Facebook post with a screen grab of someone who looked like her in December 2012, she was a fashion design student at Central Saint Martins in London.
“Clicking through, I saw a screenshot of a YouTube video – with me in it,” Anais told the Sun. ‘Wait, when did I make that video?’ I wondered. ‘I was certain it was a joke – unless I’d been so inebriated that I’d forgotten I’d made a video.'”
She did some research and discovered videos of her impersonator.
“It was the strangest thing, I just couldn’t understand it,” Anais, who now lives in Paris, continued. “Our hair was the same, the girl even had freckles – which is very unusual for an Asian girl – but she was talking in an American accent.”
She tried to stay calm, but she suspected something amazing was unfolding, so she started her online search for the woman.
The same friend noticed the same woman in a trailer for the film 21 and Over in February 2013.
Anais looked up Samantha on Google now that she knew her name and discovered they were both from South Korea and were born on the same day, November 19, 1982.
“She’s your twin,” a voice in her head said.
Anais called her mother, who was excited, and then sent Samantha a Facebook message.
She sent Samantha a tweet after getting no response, telling her to check her Facebook messages.
Samantha, who was getting her nails done at the time, assumed someone was using her photo, but when she read Anais’ message, her jaw dropped.
She began to wonder if they were twins who had been separated at birth, and she sent Anais a message with a photo of her adoption records, asking, “Could we be twins?”
They had their first video call a week later.
Despite their nervousness, they realized they had a lot in common and talked for three hours.
“You know when you hear your voice echoed on a speakerphone?” Samantha explained. That’s how I felt when I first heard Anais laugh. We finally said our goodbyes at 4 a.m., and I staggered to bed in shock and awe.”
The sisters and their families finally met in person three months later, in May 2013, in London.
Despite their nervousness, they realized they had a lot in common and talked for three hours.
Samantha said: “You know when you hear the echo of your voice on a speakerphone? That’s what it was like when I heard Anais laugh. At 4am we finally said goodbye and I stumbled to bed in shock and awe.”
The sisters and their families finally met in person three months later, in May 2013, in London.
Anais said: “We couldn’t stop staring at each other. But we didn’t hug, it was just too emotional. It felt like she was my mirror, but one that didn’t move the same time as me. Then I reached my hand out, poked her gently on the head and we both started laughing.”
DNA samples sent to an expert in the US confirmed that they were identical twins.
