Diane Ward, 59, and Mary McLaughlin, 56, have always known they were adopted by their parents. But they had never imagined they had biological siblings.
Ward was given up for adoption by her biological mother shortly after she was born. She was soon adopted by a lovely couple who brought her up and gave her lots of love and affection.
On the other hand, McLaughlin grew up with her biological mother still around for her first years of life. Her mother tried to bring her up, but she realized that she couldn’t.
So, when she hired a babysitter to look after little Mary, one day she just didn’t return from work.
The babysitter and her husband became the official guardians of the little girl and Mary became a part of their family.
Although her biological mother was still present in her life from time to time, they never had a real mother-daughter connection and relationship. Yet, it hurt so much when her mother died of cancer when Mary was only 26.
The girls grew up and had happy life in their childhood and teenage years, and then they went on to pursue their dreams and build the careers they wanted.
“Diane and I both want to always say, we had wonderful childhoods and we are eternally grateful to our adoptive families,” McLaughlin told People. “And we love them.”
But both would have loved to have a sibling to share their happy moments or worries over the years.
“I would have loved to have whined to her through two rounds of graduate school and two master’s degrees and raising children. I would have loved to have had her by my side,” Ward said about her newly-found sister.
So, a couple of years ago, Ward decided to have a DNA test and have her origins and family heritage searched through an online application.
Ward was actually looking for her biological parents or some random relatives, but she ended up being matched to a close cousin, who, in turn, directed her to a possible half-sister.
The two women were brought together online and shared phone calls at first. That’s when they knew that they had to be sisters. You see, they had too much in common. They even shared the same gestures, or the same “very dark humor”, as they explain.
McLaughlin decided to take the DNA test herself, although she knew that, even if they weren’t sisters they would definitely become best friends.
Indeed, the test confirmed what they already knew.
A few weeks ago, the two women met for the first time, as McLaughlin traveled from the UK, where she and her husband run a taxi company, to Arkansas, where Ward and her family are based.
The sisters were overwhelmed but in a good way.
They kept chatting and chatting while they were together, and they are soon planning to meet again. This time, Ward will visit McLaughlin’s home.
What an amazing story!
Watch below the heartwarming moment when the sisters saw each other in person for the first time.
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