Two Friends Who Called Each Other "Sis" For Years Make An Incredible DNA Discovery
Aug 24, 2026 by apost team
Some friendships feel so natural that people joke they must have been family all along. For Meena Geltink and Minal Tijssen, that playful idea turned out to be closer to the truth than either of them could have imagined.
According to NBC News, both women were born in India before being left at separate orphanages as infants. They were later adopted by different families in the Netherlands and grew up about 100 miles apart, unaware that they shared more than remarkably similar life stories.
Their paths first crossed in 1996 during an event for adopted children. Although they had been raised by different families and had never met before, the two teenagers quickly formed a close friendship that continued long after the gathering ended.
Over the years, they stayed in touch through letters and conversations, developing a bond that felt unusually familiar. They even began referring to one another as "sis," a nickname that reflected the closeness of their friendship rather than any belief they were actually related.
Eventually, life pulled them in different directions. The friends lost contact for about 15 years as adulthood brought careers, relationships and growing families.
Even so, neither completely forgot the other.
Years later, advances in consumer DNA testing would unexpectedly reconnect their stories. What started as a simple curiosity about their ancestry would soon reveal something neither woman had ever dared to imagine—a discovery that would completely redefine the friendship they had built decades earlier.
The answer arrived through MyHeritage DNA testing. According to NBC News, both women independently submitted DNA samples in hopes of learning more about their origins. When the results came back, they revealed something extraordinary: Meena Geltink and Minal Tijssen were a 100% biological match.
The lifelong friends weren't simply connected by shared experiences of adoption. They were sisters.
Tijssen later said she began to wonder whether there was something more to their friendship after coming across Geltink's photos on social media. Looking closely at the images, she was struck by how much they resembled one another.
Their emotional reunion in the Netherlands on Aug. 11 confirmed what the DNA results had already proven. Seeing her sister again, Geltink said, "When I see you, it's like I'm home."
Reflecting on the discovery, the mother of three told NBC News, "For years, I felt a hole in my heart. Now it's like a missing puzzle piece has been found."
For Tijssen, who now lives in France with her partner and two sons, the revelation transformed a friendship into something even deeper.
"We were friends before we were sisters," she said. "We were sisters the whole time, but we didn't know. Now it's for real."
Today, the sisters spend hours every day talking and messaging, making up for the decades they were apart. What began as an unlikely friendship between two adopted teenagers has become the family reunion they never knew they had been waiting for.
apost.com
Have you ever heard of a reunion this incredible? Share your thoughts in the comments, and pass this heartwarming story along to someone who believes family always finds a way.
Please follow the link to see their full story on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuqAcPQaC-o