Jennifer Doering knew the email sitting in her inbox was the surprise Christmas present she had been arranging for her adopted daughter Audrey. She and husband Tom had asked a researcher in China – from where they had adopted their 10-year-old daughter – to find the original documents about her birth and adoption as a special gift. But what she found inside the email proved to be life-changing for them. As she scrolled down she saw a photo of two “Audreys” – the baby they had adopted aged 14 months was a twin. “I’d every emotion all rolled into one” Jennifer, of Wausau in Wisconsin, says. “Excitement, fear, confusion. “When you’re looking at a photo of your child and you can’t figure out which one is yours, you can’t tell the difference, you know there’s no other explanation, this is real. "I was desperate to find out who the other child was.” She found out the twin was called Gracie and also living in the US. Both families knew the girls had to meet, despite the maelstrom of emotions. Gracie’s mum Nicole Rainsberry recalls: “I showed her a picture of Audrey and Jennifer. “I asked her who the little girl was and she kept insisting it was her, but she had no idea who the lady was or where the picture had been taken. “When she realised the clothes were not hers she was super confused. “Then we told her the little girl was her twin. She was pretty much speechless. After a few nervous laughs, she got emotional, it was so much to process.” The next day the girls saw each other face to face on a video call. Audrey, now 13, says: “I was shocked. I didn’t think it was real. “I don’t think I said anything, I just cried. It was very emotional.” Their incredible story is told tonight in ITV’s Long Lost Family series, about twins who were separated at birth. The Chinese researcher found the girls had been left in different places by their mother as babies but had been taken to the same orphanage. Jennifer says: “Because Audrey had a heart condition and was very sick when we brought her home, I didn’t know if her twin was alive. "She could be anywhere in the world, she might not speak the same language, and her adoptive parents might not want to know who we were.” Incredibly, using the girl’s name and date of birth and posting appeals on Facebook , it took just two days to find the family who had adopted her. They were living 1,500 miles away in Richland, Washington state. Jennifer says: “I was astounded when I looked at their Facebook page and saw a picture of them with a girl who looked just like my daughter. “It’s the craziest thing in the world to look at your child exactly. I mean, everything was the same. The same hair, the same glasses, the same outfits. “There was never any doubt we’d tell Audrey. I couldn’t imagine waiting until my daughter’s 18th. Once we knew, we couldn’t undo it.” Nicole, who with her husband Scott also has three biological children, was equally shocked when, on December 8, 2016, she got a m
Parents shocked to discover adopted daughter has an identical twin
Jennifer Doering knew the email sitting in her inbox was the surprise Christmas present she had been arranging for her adopted daughter Audrey. She and husband Tom had asked a researcher in China – from where they had adopted their 10-year-old daughter – to find the original documents about her birth and adoption as a special gift. But what she found inside the email proved to be life-changing for them. As she scrolled down she saw a photo of two “Audreys” – the baby they had adopted aged 14 months was a twin. “I’d every emotion all rolled into one” Jennifer, of Wausau in Wisconsin, says. “Excitement, fear, confusion. “When you’re looking at a photo of your child and you can’t figure out which one is yours, you can’t tell the difference, you know there’s no other explanation, this is real. "I was desperate to find out who the other child was.” She found out the twin was called Gracie and also living in the US. Both families knew the girls had to meet, despite the maelstrom of emotions. Gracie’s mum Nicole Rainsberry recalls: “I showed her a picture of Audrey and Jennifer. “I asked her who the little girl was and she kept insisting it was her, but she had no idea who the lady was or where the picture had been taken. “When she realised the clothes were not hers she was super confused. “Then we told her the little girl was her twin. She was pretty much speechless. After a few nervous laughs, she got emotional, it was so much to process.” The next day the girls saw each other face to face on a video call. Audrey, now 13, says: “I was shocked. I didn’t think it was real. “I don’t think I said anything, I just cried. It was very emotional.” Their incredible story is told tonight in ITV’s Long Lost Family series, about twins who were separated at birth. The Chinese researcher found the girls had been left in different places by their mother as babies but had been taken to the same orphanage. Jennifer says: “Because Audrey had a heart condition and was very sick when we brought her home, I didn’t know if her twin was alive. "She could be anywhere in the world, she might not speak the same language, and her adoptive parents might not want to know who we were.” Incredibly, using the girl’s name and date of birth and posting appeals on Facebook , it took just two days to find the family who had adopted her. They were living 1,500 miles away in Richland, Washington state. Jennifer says: “I was astounded when I looked at their Facebook page and saw a picture of them with a girl who looked just like my daughter. “It’s the craziest thing in the world to look at your child exactly. I mean, everything was the same. The same hair, the same glasses, the same outfits. “There was never any doubt we’d tell Audrey. I couldn’t imagine waiting until my daughter’s 18th. Once we knew, we couldn’t undo it.” Nicole, who with her husband Scott also has three biological children, was equally shocked when, on December 8, 2016, she got a m
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