Twins Adopted To Different Parents Didn’t Know About Each Other Until Now

Gracie and Audrey were born in China, and are ten-year-old identical twins. Their names hold a beautiful puzzle: Gracie’s Chinese name is Tong Min Mei, while Audrey’s is Tong Min Gui. When you join these names together, they mean “rose.” A secret bond for two girls who didn’t know the other existed. Sibling connection is powerful and important, but sometimes when a child is adopted at birth, they have siblings they don’t know exist, siblings they might not ever meet. In the story of these two girls, (and a few others) fate seemed to bring them together.

Twin Sisters Taken from One Another

Grace and Audrey were put up for adoption in China in 2007 when they were one-year-olds. They can be seen in the above “finding ad” which is the traditional Chinese ad put in newspapers after a baby is put into an orphanage. This is how prospective parents can see the baby or child, and seek out information on adoption.

By the end of the summer of 2007, both of the adorable twins had been adopted by new parents and were no longer in the orphanage or even living in China anymore. But what happened to the girls: did the adoptive parents even know that their adopted baby girl had an identical twin?

The Surprise Photo That Changed Everything

It might have been because both girls had rare heart conditions and needed specific medical attention that they were separated and adopted into different families in the summer of 2007. It is also much more difficult to adopt out twins, so that likely was an important factor as well. Jennifer Doering and her husband had adopted baby Audrey from China and brought her home to Wisconsin, United States. Doering wanted to give Audrey her adoptive ad as a gift, and so began researching online to find the ad. During this research, Doering came across a photo of Audrey on the lap of a foster mother: with another identical baby also on her lap.