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Adoption papers made best friends believe shared past was impossible — until a DNA test 9 years later changed their lives

The duo thought they might be related, but their adoption papers stated otherwise. They moved on, only to find a baffling truth about their past much later.

BY ANGELINA DSOUZA

PUBLISHED 5 HOURS AGO

(L) Two women sharing striking resemblances hanging out. (R) DNA test container with samples of individuals. (Representative Cover Image Source: (L) Unsplash | Erik Mclean; (R) Getty Images | utah778)

It might have been that you’ve found uncanny resemblances with a friend, a coworker or a random stranger. With similar morals, thoughts, or even appearance, it may have pushed you to wonder if you are related. In a thrilling turn of events, Cassandra Madison and Julia Tinetti, who were good friends for nearly a decade, discovered there was more to their intact bond, per CNN. The girls never thought they could be related to each other after they looked at adoption papers, per Inside Edition. However, one thing led to another and the next thing they knew, they looked at mind-baffling evidence that they were biologically related.

Women friends connecting instantly and hugging each other. (Representative Image Source: Unsplash| Photo by Tiago Choupina)

The duo met when they were working at The Russian Lady restaurant in New Haven and found way too many resemblances not to be friends. Both were adopted as babies from the Dominican Republic, had the Dominican Republic flag tattooed and even looked so similar that customers would get confused between the two. “We hit it off right away. There was no trying to force a friendship or anything. Our personalities are very similar, so it was very easy for us to just start hanging out,” Madison recalled. Given their resemblances, they thought it would be a fun idea to have a sisterhood of a sort, which extended to sometimes matching clothing. They were even proud to consider each other as a twin, per PEOPLE.

Two women with similar resemblances and twinning clothing smiling at each other. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by Filadendron)

Like any other, this duo, too, was curious and checked out their adoption papers to see if they really were sisters. However, those papers mentioned that both had different mothers. “So we said, ‘Okay, never mind, forget it,’ and we just moved on with our lives,” Madison said. According to Adopted, there are 77% of adoptees are loved by their adoptive families and still seek to find their biological ones. Despite learning that they weren’t related through the adoption papers, Madison and Tinetti continued to have an intact bond. Eventually, Madison moved but kept in touch with Tinetti.

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Over the years, she tried to learn more about her biological family. Though her birth mom passed away after a while, she connected with her dad and relatives. There, the man let him know that they had also given up another child for adoption. Without further delay, Madison rushed to get a DNA test done with Tinetti. “I was like, ‘This is it,’ and I waited for probably like 10 minutes before I even opened it because I was trying to prepare myself for what was going to be there,” Tinetti said. To their surprise, the duo learned that they were biological sisters. Their happiness knew no bounds, and mysteries were finally solved.

Adult sisters and brother reuiniting. (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Photo by Alexy Almond)

Things were not just over for this duo. Over time, Tinetti met Madison's childhood friend, Thomas Buonaguirio. “As soon as I saw him [Buonaguirio], I was like, 'That's me with a beard,’” Tinetti remarked. Though there was no proof of connection on paper, they did another set of tests and learned that Buonaguirio was their biological brother. “This has been so crazy. This whole story has been wild. I didn't think it could get any crazier,” Tinetti remarked. The trio was hoping to reunite before catching up with their biological father, and their family remained intact.