This post is sponsored by Twin Sisters and Independent Lens.
Can you imagine being over 5,000 miles away from your siblings actually your identical twin whom you’ve only met a handful of times? I can’t. As the youngest of five I can never imagine being separated from my four sisters, like ever. The years between us span a little under a decade apart, and now we are over 3,000 miles away from each other and yet, it’s inevitable that I speak or text to at least two of my four sisters every single day.
Twin Sisters is an extremely moving and heartfelt tale. Two identical twin sisters were adopted from China by two different families from two very different sides of the world; it’s a story that not only opened my eyes to the importance of family but how love and the bond between parent and child doesn’t have to be biological and that sisters – even if raised in drastically different worlds — will always have an extraordinary connection.
The movie unfolds with the story of how both sets of parents yearn for children of their own, as both are unable to conceive and come to the difficult decision that they will adopt. As we begin to delve deeper into their stories you feel the love they have for each other and understand how sincere, honest and lovely these couples are.
The story builds up as both parents travel to China at the same time to meet their daughters for the first time to bring to them to their respective homes. The movie captures the emotions of each family exquisitely — you can feel in your heart their trepidation as they each meet their daughter for the first time and see it quickly unravel with the love and comfort they give as they soothe and nurture their daughters. As both families finish the process of taking their daughters home, the two families unexpectedly meet – each has dressed their new daughters in identical “take home” dresses — the odds of which were unbelievable as one family is from Norway and the other from the United States. A mom’s intuition kicked in and they begin to suspect that the girls might be twins.
As each family departs for their respective homes, they exchange contact information. Months after their initial meeting the families conduct some DNA testing, which confirmed the motherly instincts, proving that a mom doesn’t need to give birth to understand the deep levels of love for a child.
As the story continues we begin to really understand how the twins are living two distinct lives and we quickly realize how those lives are so different. Nonetheless, as the sisters grow older and visit each other more often (a total of four visits), you can truly see how similar their mannerisms are. As a viewer it’s incredible to watch their love and understanding for each other grow stronger and their bonds grow richer and deeper, as their sisterly connection becomes unbreakable.
I truly enjoyed Twin Sisters. I hope my boys can have similar bonds growing up in the same home, and am so intrigued to learn more about each girl and their families!
Twin Sisters premieres on Independent Lens on Monday, October 20th at 10pm on PBS. Check your local listings: http://to.pbs.org/whenandwhere
For more info on the film, check out the Twin Sisters webpage.
Join our Twitter party on October 20th at 11am PST/2pm EST – enter now for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. #TwinSistersPBS.
