Two Indian-born women who grew up in separate adoptive families in the Netherlands have discovered they are biological sisters, almost three decades after they first met and became friends.
Meena Geltink, 43, and Minal Tijssen, 44, were both left at orphanages in India as babies before being adopted by different Dutch families. They grew up around 130 kilometres apart, unaware that their biological sister was living relatively close by.
Their remarkable story began in 1996, when the two teenagers met at a gathering for adopted children. Neither knew much about their biological families, but they quickly formed a close friendship.
Minal and Meena first met in 1996, at a meet-up for adopted kids. They became close friends, calling each other “sis,” because people said they looked so alike — but they eventually lost touch.
Then, after one of them took a DNA test and found a 100% match for a sibling, they… pic.twitter.com/WS6gHRAPz5
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) August 13, 2026
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There was something unusual about their connection. Their friends noticed that they looked remarkably alike, while the two girls themselves felt an immediate sense of familiarity.
They exchanged addresses and stayed in touch through letters. They even jokingly called each other “sis”. Neither could have imagined that the nickname was closer to the truth than they realised.