(NewsNation) — Two sisters are reunited after living thousands of miles apart, thanks to a DNA test.
They share the same mother, but they never knew each other existed, until now.
The story begins in suburban Detroit when Diane Ward was born in 1963 to a teenaged mother.
“As long as I can remember, I was always told that I was adopted. So there was no surprise, which I think is great,” Ward told “NewsNation Prime.”
Her adoptive family was nurturing, but her teenage years brought questions.
”It was always kind of strange when we had to do science projects in school because we didn’t know our DNA. And that was hard,” Ward said.
In 1965, Mary stayed with her mom in Michigan, but not for long. Out of the blue, her mom stopped coming home.
Taken in by the next door neighbors, Mary McLaughlin grew up with her mother in out of her life. However, she craved being “home” with the safety of her adoptive family.
“I would walk home, and I would be walking across a main side road, maybe half a mile, crossing a five-lane highway by myself at two and three years old,” McLaughlin said.
The girls grew up not knowing the other existed.
Ward moved to the United Kingdom as an adult, and decided to get a DNA test kit.
“It was a Christmas present to myself, and I didn’t mention anything to my husband,” Ward said. “A couple weeks later it came back. I had a match, a very close match.”
Within days, and with the help of a cousin, the half-sisters were on Zoom. The distance between them was gone forever.
“It was just a relief to see that this wasn’t really a dream. It wasn’t all make believe,” Ward said.
The two have spent the week together at the beach introducing folks who were family all this time. It’s clear they’re sisters with a lifetime of laughs still to come.