Ten-year-old twins who were separated shortly after birth in China, and had no idea each other existed, have hugged for the first time.
Audrey Doering, from Wisconsin and Gracie Rainsberry from Washington State, clung to each other and sobbed as they were reunited live on television.
The identical pair were adopted as babies by different American families who lived hundreds of kilometres apart. But they only found out about each other by chance when Audrey’s mother, Jennifer, decided to give her daughter some information about her past for Christmas.
With the help of a Chinese researcher, she discovered a photo of Audrey and another baby who looked just like her, posing on the knee of her Chinese foster mum.
‘As soon as I had that picture, I was desperate to find out who that other child was,’ Jennifer said.
She tracked down Gracie’s mother, Nicole, on Facebook and the twins spoke on FaceTime. There, they arranged to wear matching outfits for their reunion on Good Morning America.
Through tears, Audrey said, ‘It felt like there was somebody missing. Now, it’s complete.’
As they got to know each other, the girls discovered they both love chicken Alfredo, mac ‘n’ cheese and have both suffered from heart conditions.
When asked what was in her heart following the emotional reunion, Audrey said, ‘love’.
Watch the full video here.