In a scene straight out of a movie, two South Korean sisters shared a heartfelt hug at the Incheon Airport last week after being separated at birth. Darragh Hannan and Jee Won Ha were adopted in different countries but were reunited after discovering their connection through DNA testing, according to a report in The Korea Herald. Hannan was adopted in the US state of Minnesota shortly after birth in 1986 where she found a loving and supporting home while Ha wasn't as lucky.
Ha was initially adopted by a Korean family in 1985 but had to leave for a Belgian family by 1987 when her adoptive parents divorced. In Belgium, Ha shared space with seven other Cambodian children who were adopted using falsified papers and dubious methods.
Ha left his home at the age of 14 due to years of physical and emotional abuse. After spending her teen years in the orphanages, Ha eventually managed to secure her own apartment. She is now married with three children.
“Identity theft, child smuggling, child trafficking. It seems like my parents were [a] big role in it, so they organised it, and they did it themselves,” Ha told the publication.
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How were the sisters reunited?
The quest for their reunion started in 2018 when Hannan took a DNA test, hoping to learn more about her roots. The results were disappointing initially as Hannan could only find distant cousins but all changed earlier this year when Ha took a DNA test alongside her brother, who suggested it. While the brother's results were uninspiring, Ha received the shock of her life when she discovered she had a blood sister.
"I was completely in shock. I drank a little bit before I could write an email. Finding each other is not only the one big happy thought. It's also the confusion and the sadness of all the things that you missed together," Ha said.
Hannan said their reunion reminded her of TV shows and movies where long-lost siblings are reunited and how happy they all seem in the moment.
"We always see that part, but we never see the confusion and the questioning and all of the big feelings that happen after the big moment. What comes next? What's 'our' after the big moment? What does that look like for us?" she added.
The sisters now plan to spend some together in Korea and hope to find their birth parents which could tie the entire mystery together.
