Identical Twins Separated at Birth, Reunited After 13 Years Now ‘Inseparable’

Identical twin sisters who were separated at birth but reunited after 13 years are now the best of friends. However, it was not always a smooth road.

Isabella Solimene and Ha Nguyen were born in the same village in Vietnam in 1998. But after their mother saw they were both malnourished, and knowing she did not have enough money to buy them food, she decided to give them away, Business Insider reported, citing the recently released book Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family by Erika Hayasaki.

Nguyen was adopted by her mother’s sister and her partner in Vietnam, while Solimene was placed in an orphanage until she was four years old, where she was then adopted by a white family in Chicago.

After many years apart, growing up in different cultures on opposite sides of the world, Solimene told Hayasaki that she felt compelled to reunite the sisters. The girls knew they had an identical sister out there somewhere but recalled not thinking much of it.

“I was curious about my twin. I knew she lived in America,” Nguyen told the author. “I told myself I would not ever go to America. So I just thought then, ‘I guess I will not ever meet my twin sister either.'”

“I grew up being curious about it,” said Solimene. “There was another person out there just like me, but I didn’t feel like I needed to know who it was.”

Solimene’s mother worked hard to find Nguyen and eventually flew to Vietnam to look for clues. After searching through orphanages and seeking the help of locals, without knowing any Vietnamese, she eventually was able to find Nguyen with her biological aunt and partner.

With the help of a translator, the mother showed Nguyen videos of Solimene playing sports, which overwhelmed the young girl. However, Nguyen was adamantly against flying to the U.S. to meet her identical sister when Solimene’s mother asked her.

In 2011, Solimene and her mother eventually flew to Vietnam to meet her sister. When they reunited after 13 years, they both noted it was a bit awkward due to language, cultural, and personal barriers.

But after spending time with each other and relating to the similarities in their childhoods, the sisters started to bond slowly.

Solimene’s family helped pay for Nguyen to attend an affluent private school in Vietnam and rented an apartment so her parents could be close. In 2016, Nguyen moved to Chicago and eventually settled into American life.

Insider notes that since the sisters have been together, they have been “inseparable.” After the sisters graduated high school, they went to college together in 2018. Solimene told Hayasaki that Nguyen has helped her grow a lot as a person and has always been there for her.

“She has allowed me to grow in an environment that is a safe space,” Solimene said of her sister.”I have always felt like she’s had my back.”

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.