By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Audrey Doering (left) in her Green Bay Packers gear, and Gracie Rainsberry (right) in a Seahawks jersey. (Photos from the Doering and Rainsberry families.)
Gracie Rainsberry of Richland, Wash. and Audrey Doering of Wasau, Wisconsin cried and hugged each other on Jan. 11, live on ABC’s “Good Morning America” (GMA).
Wearing matching pink tops and black-rimmed glasses, the twin sisters, 10, were meeting in person for the very first time — they were separated at birth in China, and then adopted by two different American families.
Jennifer and Tom Doering, Audrey’s adopted parents, spent hours scouring Ancestry.com for Audrey’s family history — they thought it would make a meaningful Christmas present.
At Research-China.org, a website that specializes in finding information related to children put up for adoption, Jennifer Doering found herself staring at a photo of a Chinese woman with “two copies” of Audrey on her lap. That’s when she realized Audrey had a twin sister.
She tracked down Nicole and Scott Rainsberry of Richland and contacted the couple through Scott’s sister’s Facebook page.
Two days later, the sisters met on FaceTime in a cloud of tears.
And they haven’t stopped talking since.
Audrey said when she heard the news, “I thought my parents were, like, playing a joke on me.”
Gracie was “really overwhelmed” when she first found out. “I was, like … started to cry a lot.”
Gracie said she and her sister have a lot in common. “We both love chicken Alfredo.” And they both love mac ‘n’ cheese.
In addition to their mutual love of the same foods, the twins also found out that they have heart conditions. Gracie underwent two heart surgeries after arriving in the United States and Audrey underwent one, their families told GMA.
Both girls are the fourth child in their American families, joining families with three biological children.