Fans of the ’90s hit TV show Sister, Sister, may remember that Tia and Tamera first met each other while shopping with their respective parents. Staring into mirror reflections of themselves they shout, “That girl has my face!” The concept seems a bit outlandish, but it was entertaining.
Sure, adoption is real and sometimes siblings are separated. But running into long-lost family members at the mall is a stretch. For one woman and her sister though, it was their real life experience.
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Marielle Landry shared this unique story on TikTok. Marielle, who goes by @HousecoatMommy on the app, said that she and her twin sister Mireille were 12 years old when they bumped into their birth mother at a mall in Nova Scotia, Canada. In the summer of 2004, the twins decided to hop in a photo booth with their friend. When they got inside, they immediately noticed that the people before them forgot to take all of their photo prints.
“It was two blond women,” Marielle told Today. “So we tracked them down and were like, ‘Hey, these [pictures] belong to you.’ And then they thanked us and we went on our way.”
Twenty minutes later, Marielle noticed her adoptive mother Lorena in deep conversation with the two blond women. The girls could tell that whatever they were discussing was serious.
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“We were like, ‘Who are they? And why on earth would our mom know them?’” Marielle recalled. “My sister and I have talked about how as we were approaching, we both had this feeling that something crazy was about to happen.” They were right. Lorena looked at her daughters and said, “Girls, this is your birth mom.” One of the blond women, Nicole, recognized the girls from the yearly photos Lorena had sent through the adoption agency.
On TikTok, Marielle shared that their adoption was supposed to be closed until they were 18. But apparently, the universe had other plans. The meeting was serendipitous. The girls were at a mall an hour and a half away from their hometown. Mireille was wearing the exact same shirt as her biological aunt. During that first meeting, Nicole asked the girls if they had any questions. It was all too much for Marielle. “I couldn’t think clearly,” she said. “I had so many, but I was in shock.”
@housecoatmommy #greenscreen part 2 ! Like and follow for next part #twins #adoptionstory #adoption #identicaltwins #viral #fyp #wholesome #reunion @mireilleadele ♬ Home – Edith Whiskers
Thankfully, the twins would continue to have Nicole in their lives. Marielle says their relationship is like those who are close cousins.” The reunion with their mother led them to their maternal side of the family and then connecting with their paternal family members, who come from Zambia. They eventually traveled to Zambia where they met their paternal grandmother.
