Twin Chinese Girls Meet

“They live thousands of miles apart, they speak different languages, but they are definitely twin sisters. They have the same biological parents in China, but they never knew it until years later.

Mia and her twin sister Alexandra were found in a cardboard box and taken to an orphanage in 2003. Mia went home to Sacramento with Andy and Angela Hansen. Her sister went home with a couple from Norway.

Both their families met during the adoption process in China [Changsha in China’s Hunan province]. The families felt very strongly the girls were twins.

“They looked exactly alike,” Angela Hansen said. “We were told they were not twins.”

The couples stayed in touch. A year later, the families decided to do a DNA test, which confirmed that the girls were indeed twin sisters.

The girls met up for the first time in 2009 in Sacramento at the age of 6. They’ve seen each other several times since.

Mia is now 11 years old. She plays the piano, has been in girls scouts, enjoys golf and loves to dance. Alexandra loves to ice skate, swim and ride her bike.

“It’s kind of crazy thinking how far she is, compared to the distance between normal sisters,” Mia said.

Mia and Alexandra occasionally send each other letters. But they also stay in touch in other ways.

“We do Facetime every weekend on Saturday and Sundays,” Mia said. “Her English has improved a lot!”

The girls have a lot in common.

“We both don’t like tomatoes; we both like olives,” Mia said. “If we’re really happy, we’ll jump up and down and squeal.”

“I thought they are twins,” Angela Hansen said. “There is really something about each of them that is the same that thousands of thousands of miles apart can’t influence, and can’t change.”

After the BBC featured Mia and Alexandra in a story about twins, a Norwegian documentary producer decided to put together a story just focusing on the girls. A camera crew followed the girls around in their prospective countries.

“It was really exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time,” Mia said.

The sisters have seen each other on a few different trips now.

“It’s an adventure now,” Andy Hensen said. “Whatever they do, they will find a way to be together.”

Just a few months ago, they went to the Norwegian Emmys together because the documentary about them, “Twin Sisters,” won several awards.

The documentary about Mia and Alexandra will be shown on PBS on Monday at 10 p.m. It’s the first time it’ll be shown in the U.S.”

Twin sisters adopted from China reunited years later[News 10 10/17/14 by Suzanne Phan]

New parents were told Girls aren’t twins;DNA says Yes[11 Alive 10/17/14 by Suzanne Phan]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

  Who was operating in Hunan Province in 2003?