A Double Miracle

Mia Lewis, Staff Writer

Imagine living day by day and not knowing that you have another sibling somewhere else in the world. It is definitely a crazy thought, but on January 11, 2017 two girls were reunited on “Good Morning America.”

Their story began when they were separated at birth in China. They had been adopted by two different American families, with both families having no idea that these two baby girls were identical twin sisters. The girl’s names are Audrey Doering and Gracie Rainsberry.  With Audrey living in Wisconsin and Gracie living in Washington state, the girls had only been a couple hundred miles apart for almost ten years and they still had no clue that they had another sibling out there.

As Audrey was getting older, she hoped to get a little sister for Christmas. This intrigued Audrey’s mother, Jennifer Doering, and led her to quickly become interested in finding out more about her daughter’s past. To find some answers she hired a Chinese researcher that helped her find a picture that would change her family’s life forever. It was a picture of her daughter sitting on her Chinese foster mom’s one leg and on the other leg she had been holding another baby that looked exactly like her daughter. A wave of emotions had overcome Jennifer, not knowing how to react. In the next few weeks, Jennifer was determined to find out who the other baby was. Soon after discovering the photo, Jennifer finally found out that the other baby was certainly Audrey’s biological twin sister, who had also been adopted and brought over to the U.S.

From there, Jennifer had turned to social media to find the Rainsberry family.  On Facebook Jennifer was able to contact Gracie’s mother, Nicole Rainsberry. Both mothers had been shocked to find each other, realizing that their daughters are twins. According to an interview conducted by ABC news, Nicole had stated, “I mean, it’s hard to process that information…It was so crazy to be looking at what looked like Gracie, but knowing that it wasn’t Gracie.” It is amazing to think that out of billions of people, that Audrey and Gracie were given the opportunity to find one another after so many years.   

After a few times of communicating through video chats and text messages, the two were finally ready to meet one another. On January 11, both girls had met in person live on television. Both girls were in tears when seeing one another because they both said they were overwhelmed, not knowing really what to think. In another ABC news interview, Audrey stated, “…it felt like somebody was missing. Now it’s complete.” It is incredible to see the immediate bond that these two girls instantly made and how much love they already have developed for one another.

In the weeks to come, Audrey and Gracie have learned a lot about one another. Gracie said, “We both love chicken Alfredo…That’s like one of our favorite foods. And we both love mac ‘n’ cheese.” Aside from sharing some of their favorite dishes, they also have found out that they have similar heart complications. As an infant, Gracie had undergone two heart surgeries when first arriving to the United States, while Audrey had one.

When appearing on the talk show, the girls were given tickets to see School of Rock on Broadway and the chance to eat at Planet Hollywood to allow the twins to have some fun in the city. Along with these generous gifts, Audrey and Gracie also received plane tickets funded by Expedia.com so the the girls could continue to spend time with one another when they return home. It is unbelievable to see such an amazing connection with these two girls, as if they never left each other’s side. Let’s just say that their bond is unbreakable and their sisterly love will last a lifetime.