Donated Embryos, DNA Testing Kits Bring Brothers And Sisters Together Decades Later In Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- On Thursday, several families celebrated an early Mother's Day after being brought together by DNA testing.
As CBS2's Cindy Hsu found out, one of the families has quite the complicated story.
It all started with Dale and Julie Charette, who had twins Isaac and Michael 28 years ago through in vitro fertilization or IVF. Julie wanted to help other families, so she donated her remaining embryos.
"And it was just so sad to think why not just give them to somebody? So the doctor said you can donate them," Julie said.
Well, those embryos went to Carla Spindt, who gave birth to twins Ava and Sonia, who are now 27 years old. Six years ago the girls decided to try the DNA company 23andMe and just last year found out that Julie and Dale were their biological parents, thanks to their donation of embryos.
"We spent a lot of time kind of feeling a little anxious in terms of wording that first email to Julie, herself. Does she know that I'm about to reach out?" Sonia Spindt said.
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It turns out, Julie was shocked but also very happy. Months later, the girls came to meet her and their newfound brothers.
To mark this upcoming Mother's Day, the families came together here in Manhattan, with lots of hugs. The girls' mother, Carla, was thrilled.
"I was really, really happy because I wanted them to know," Carla said.
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Even though the brothers and sisters grew up in two different families, "I can already start picking off the similarities between us with the laugh or the different smirks or mannerisms," Isaac Charette said.
"It's still exciting, you know, because now my boys have sisters and they have each other," Julie Charette said.
"It's been fun and I think a lot of people should explore these things because you never know what you're going to discover," Sonia said.
You may find lots of surprises.
By the way, Julie donated four other embryos, so their growing family may get even bigger if they're able to find more siblings.
