Denise McCarty was 3 years old when she was separated from her family in Seoul, South Korea, and taken into an orphanage, and now, 44 years after being adopted, they have reunited. The joy did not end there though. McCarty, whose birth name is Sang-Ae, has also just discovered she has a twin sister, Sang-Hee.
"My heart was beating a hundred miles an hour," McCarty told WCAX upon hearing the news. "Like, I could not believe this was happening."
McCarty and her twin sister went missing in 1976 while at a market in Seoul with their grandmother. Sang-Hee was found three days later but McCarty was taken into an orphanage and was later adopted by her American parents. She had no recollection of the day she was lost. All she had was the story that the adoption agency told her — that she was abandoned at a hospital because she was sick.
"We never abandoned you, Sang-Ae," Sang-Hee told her during a video call of the moment aired by Korea Now. "We were looking for you every day."
McCarty was able to track down her biological family via a Korean DNA program that matches U.S. adoptees with their families. She registered with the program in 2016, and the following year, her mother signed up. They finally matched earlier this month.
After much anticipation, McCarty was finally able to meet her mother, twin sister, and older brother virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Her father and grandmother have since died.
"We had the reunion and I know he was there in spirit because I think that he just made this happen and I think that my maternal grandmother that lost us that day," McCarty told WCAX, "I know she was there as well. I could just tell."
Speaking about Sang-Hee, McCarty said she was "shocked" to learn she had a twin sister.
"To then know that I had a twin sister who looked just like me!" she said.
"I’ve just got this huge family now that loves me and that I love," McCarty added. "You can’t be happier than that. You can’t ask for more than that."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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