Identical Twins Reunite After 19 Years Of Separation Due To Hospital Error

Twin sisters reunite after 19 years of growing apart from each other

Stories of babies being switched at birth by mistake in hospitals may be rare, but not unheard of. While there are some lucky cases where the families find out and rectify the error immediately, there are those who discover the truth at a later point in life and eventually reunite with their biological families.

Such is the case for identical twins Adryani Iwani and Noratirah who spent 19 years growing up without knowledge of each other’s existence – until their identical looks brought them together last year.

Identical twins separated at birth at the hospital

3 sisters
Image credit: Abdul MalikIshak Bin Madihi / Bernama

The story of identical twins Adryani Iwani and Noratirah who were separated at birth was reported by Bernama yesterday, 27th June 2021. According to the publication, the separation happened 19 years ago at a hospital in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, where the staff were believed to have swopped Noratirah with Adryana Iwani, who grew up as Adryani’s twin sister. But the truth came to light after they underwent a DNA test in September 2020.

Adryani’s journey towards discovering her biological sister, Noratirah, began when she was a teenager. She was at a motivational camp when she met students from another school who told her that she looked identical to their friend Noratirah. Curious to find out more, Adryani had requested a photo of Noratirah from them.

Upon checking the Instagram account of Noratirah, she realised that they did indeed look alike and proceeded to tell her sister, Adryana, about it. When her mother dismissed the claim that they look the same, Adryani decided to not pursue the matter.

But the identical sisters were destined to find out the truth about their past and reunite one day.

In March 2019, they met in person for the first time at an educational carnival, Jom Masuk U, at a supermarket in Kota Bharu. Stunned to see how similar they looked, the girls were lost for words and could only stare at each other, Bernama quoted Adryani saying. The incident was also noticed by their friends, she added.

Taking the DNA test to confirm their identity

Two women
Image credit: Adryani Iwani

In August 2019, when Adryani uploaded her birthday pictures on Instagram, her friends approached her to tell her that she shares the same birthday with Noratirah. Shortly after that, the two of them decided to go for a DNA test at Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian with the approval of their respective families. Blood samples from Adryani, her mother Siti Aminah Ismail, Adryana, Noratirah and her non-biological dad Husin Omar, were taken for analysis.

The results matched 99.99%, which indicated that chances that the two girls were not identical twins was close to zero. The test results also revealed that Adryana Iwani, the non-biological sister of Adryani is actually the daughter of the late Husin Omar and Rahmah Isa, Noratirah’s parents. Husin Omar passed away 2 months after they got the DNA test results.

Adryani’s elder sister Ayu Haryani, who also spoke on the incident said that her family was not informed whether or not her mother gave birth to identical twins in 2001. They accepted the babies as non-identical twins and went about their lives as usual. She also said that her mother was unwilling to accept the DNA test results at first, thinking of how it would affect Adryana psychologically.

But now, the family still considers Adryana as one of them and wants her to stay with them since her parents are no longer around. Ayu Haryani also added that her family is in the midst of taking legal action against those responsible for the mishap.

Identical twins reunite after 19 years

It is not often that you come across someone who bears a resemblance to you, much less someone who looks absolutely identical. We know that Adryani and Noratirah got a shock when they first laid eyes on each other, but we’re glad that they were able to reunite and call each other sister after the hospital’s mix-up 2 decades ago. We hope incidents like this will not repeat in the future and may those separated at birth find their way to their biological families eventually.