An adopted woman shared a tearful first embrace with the biological sister she never knew existed—after a chance social media post revealed her long-lost sibling living 4,000 miles away in another country.
For a quarter of a century, Rachel Weiner, who was adopted to New York City, from Bogota, Colombia, had no idea that she had a biological sister adopted to Sweden—until a social media algorithm turned her life upside down.
Rachel, 26, was adopted when she was just two months old, and because she was older and adopted from a different orphanage than her sister, Emelie, 25, who moved to Stockholm, she had no way of knowing she even had a younger sibling.
Emelie, meanwhile, was informed of nothing more than that she had an older sister who had the same parents, whose biological name was Karen, and who had been adopted to the United States.
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For years, Rachel would ask her adoptive parents for a sister, not knowing she had a sibling on the other side of the world.
Then, in 2024, Rachel decided to start posting about her adoption story on social media to raise awareness for others in her situation.
She was able to locate her biological mother and even shared a virtual call with her, and in July 2024, Rachel posted a video explaining the year of her adoption and the background to her situation.
It wasn’t until February 2025, though, that that video appeared on Emelie’s For You Page on TikTok, which prompted the 25-year-old to think that the story closely resembled her own.
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Then, having looked closer at Rachel’s appearance, Emelie couldn’t get over how similar they looked—particularly their eye shape—and she commented on the video to ask if Rachel’s biological mom was called Mariana.
Rachel replied privately to Emelie to say that was her biological mother’s name.
And having then added Emelie on Instagram, the pair “thought each page was AI,” given how similar they and their lives and appearances looked.
Having matched photos they had each been given from around the time they were adopted—many of which were the same—the pair then hopped straight on a video call and chatted for two hours.
Rachel and Emelie spoke regularly for a few weeks before Rachel decided she would fly to Sweden to celebrate her sister’s 25th birthday.
On June 25, in Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, the pair shared a tearful first-ever hug before spending the first of each other’s birthdays together, doing sisterly things like makeup and getting their nails done.
Speaking of the first meeting, Rachel said, “I had just gotten off the plane, and Emelie planned to wait for me at the arrivals area.
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“I was quite jet-lagged and even a little nervous.
“Once I saw her face and her running to me, I felt an unimaginable sense of joy and shock.
” Looking at her and hugging her for the first time felt surreal.
“I keep telling people it feels fake, in the best way.
“I felt like it was a moment that I never imagined could ever happen and that I never knew I needed.
“My sister said it is the best hug she has ever had in her entire life, and I fully agree.
“We are the missing pieces to each other’s lives, truly.
“I hope that others see our video and learn that it is okay to step out of your comfort zone and to put your own unique story out there.
“I decided to post on social media—after almost deciding not to because I was embarrassed and scared.
“If I had never started posting, my sister would have never been able to find me so easily after all of these years of dreaming of finding her big sister.
“Also: believe that nothing is impossible.”
