Orphaned twins who had not seen each other since they were nine have been reunited at the age of 90 thanks to DNA.
Maurilia Chavez and Andrea Lopez were torn apart in 1947 when their parents died and they and their eight siblings were divided among the extended family.
Inexplicably, despite being twins, the pair were not sent to the same home and grew up hundreds of miles apart, not knowing whether the other was alive or dead.
They saw each other only once more, four years later, when they were together again for one day at a family gathering. Then nothing.
Second orphaned twins Maurilia Chavez (right) and Andrea Lopez (left) were reunited after 81 years, having not seen each other since a one-day meeting at the age of nine
The long-lost twins pose with some of their extended family, many of whom met for the first time that day
For decades they lived their own lives, married, had children and retired to different states – but the pain never left them.
Lopez, who lived in Las Vegas, took a genetic test around Thanksgiving last year and was overwhelmed when she learned her sister was alive and living in Denver.
They soon caught up on an hours-long phone conversation, and Lopez booked a flight last December for a heartwarming reunion with Chavez.
Family captured the moment the long-lost twins hugged each other for the first time since they were little girls, crying tears of joy.
“My little sister, I really wanted to see you, have you with me, my beautiful sister,” Lopez said in Spanish as they held each other.
It is unclear exactly how they found each other, but thousands of Americans did have in recent years uploaded their DNA to public databases such as 23andme, allowing them to track down unknown relatives.
The twins were torn apart in 1947 when their parents (pictured in old photos) died and they and their eight siblings were divided among the extended family.
Lopez, who lived in Las Vegas, took a genetic test around Thanksgiving last year and was overwhelmed when she learned her sister was alive and living in Denver.
Family captured the moment long-lost twins hugged for the first time since they were little girls, crying tears of joy
Chavez and Lopez argued over who was older, with Lopez insisting she was born six minutes before her twin brother.
“When I see my sister, it makes me so happy that all I do is cry, hug her and squish her,” Lopez said. News 9 months after their reunion.
“It was like seeing her for the first time in my life, because 81 years is too long… I still remember a little bit, just a little bit, me too.”
Lopez described the moment they first heard each other’s voices after eight decades, changed by time and life.
“You said to me, ‘Are you really Andrea?’ Don’t you recognize my voice? And she says, ‘A little bit’ and I say, ‘Well, I recognize your voice very well and I know you, my sister,'” she said.
Chavez and Lopez argued over who was older, with Lopez insisting she was born six minutes before her twin brother
“My little sister, I really wanted to see you, have you with me, my beautiful sister,” Lopez said in Spanish as they held each other
The sisters wanted to spend as much time together as possible, so they slept in Chavez’s bed the night after Lopez arrived.
But Chavez only had a single bed, so Lopez passed out in the middle of the night — much to her sister’s amusement.
“I’m the happiest person in the world because I never thought I’d see her again, and the other reason I’m crying like a baby: I was lonely. I have a beautiful family, but what I really needed was my sister,” Chavez said. .
Three of their siblings are still alive, all in their 80s and 90s, and the meeting between Lopez and Chavez has spawned other meetings between them and their extended families.
One brother drove from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to visit Lopez, and Lopez went to Texas to visit their 95-year-old older brother.