In a plot twist straight out of the Parent Trap, two freshmen met and became friends at college before discovering that they're half-sisters through a common sperm-donor father.
Tulane University student Mikayla Stern-Ellis, 19, befriended fellow-Californian Emily Nappi, 18, but it wasn't just a West Coast upbringing that the two shared.
Mikayla told the Tulane Hullabaloo that she first made contact with Emily last summer while searching for a possible roommate on Facebook.
'There was an online survey, and we were both interested in Wall [Residential College],' Mikayla said. 'I was looking at the survey, and I was looking at Emily’s answers and I saw that we had a lot in common.'
+8
What are the chances! Emily Nappi (left) and Mikayla Stern-Ellis (right) met during their freshman year at Tulane and discovered they shared the same sperm donor father
+8
+8
Surprise sisters: Biological half-sisters Mikayla (left) and Emily (right) are both Californians attending Tulane
+8
Chance meeting: The two met during their first year at Tulane University. They started talking the summer before freshman year while searching for roommates. Above, Mikayla and her mom Debra at the New Orleans campus
By then, Emily had already secured a roommate but the two continued to talk and became fast friends when they met in person on the New Orleans, Louisiana campus this fall.
Both quickly figured out that they were conceived by a donation from an anonymous donor. But neither thought much of it, even when they figured out that both of their donors were Colombian.
Mikayla's lesbian mothers Heidi and Debra Stern-Ellis used an anonymous sperm donor to have their daughter two decades ago.
When the girls went home for winter break, Mikayla told her moms about her new friend with whom she had so much in common.
Mikayla's mother Heidi remembers looking through the donor list two decades ago and while there were some 1,000 donors on the list, she doesn't remember any others with Colombian ethnicity.
+8
+8
Different moms: On the left, Mikyala is pictured with mom Debra. On the left, Emily with mom Italia at high school graduation
+8
Early years: A young Mikayla clutches a stuffed animal Monkey
After seeing pictures of Emily, and remarking on how much she looked like her own daughter, she told Mikayla to text the girl asking for the sperm donor's number.
+8
Proud mom: Three-year-old Mikayla sits on mom Heidi's arms during a 1998 gay pride parade
Emily sent the number and it was a match, completely taking the two girls by surprise since they had been joking to schoolmates that there was a '25 per cent chance we're sisters'.
Following the life-changing realization, the interests the girls shared before make much more sense.
Both will perform in Tulane's upcoming production of the Vagina Monologues which means they may be taking after their father who listed drama as one of his interests on his donor profile.
They also share the same mind when it comes to fashion, both buying the same fleece sweater without the other one knowing on Black Friday.
For Mikayla, finding her half-sister in a college friend is proof that she's at the right school.
'For me Tulane just felt right, and this is one of the many things that proves I made the right decision,' Mikayla Stern-Ellis said.
'We thought [going to Tulane] she’d just find an education, but she found a sister,' mother Debra Stern-Ellis said.
The two have since changed their Facebook profile pictures to an image of them hugging.
After posting the picture on her profile, Mikayla wrote: 'An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, and circumstance.'
No comments:
Post a Comment