Helped by TikTok: in Georgia, twins who were sold to different families were reunited after 19 years

[ad_1]

In Georgia, twin sisters who were sold to different families as children have been reunited after 19 years of separation thanks to a TikTok video.

Ano Sartania and Amy Khvitiya, who are now 21 years old, became victims of child trafficking – they were illegally sold to different families immediately after birth. The girls had no idea of ​​each other’s existence, although they had similar hobbies and style.

Thanks to social networks, they learned about their origin and met their biological mother. The case also helped the public to learn more about the “black market for adoption” in which doctors and officials were involved.

The story of Amy and Ano’s separation and reunion was told by the BBC and La Repubblica.

Photo: amykhvitia/Instagram

Amy and Ano grew up in different cities and did not know of each other’s existence until they were 19 years old. But some events in their lives suggested the existence of their own “double”.

The first such case happened when the girls were 12 years old. Amy Khvitia, while visiting her godmother near the Black Sea, watched the program “Georgia has talent”. There was a girl dancing there who looked exactly like her. Amy asked her parents about it, but they didn’t answer.

7 years later, the Internet finally made the girls think that they do not fully know their origins. In November 2021, Amy, who had blue hair at the time, posted a TikTok video of herself getting her eyebrows pierced. A friend of Ano Sartania saw this video and sent it to her. The resemblance between the girls was striking.

“When I first saw her, I thought I was looking at myself”– Ano recalled.

Read also: In Canada, 68-year-old men discovered that they were switched at birth. One has Ukrainian roots

She became interested in her “double” and tried to find the girl on the Internet, but could not find her, so she shared the video on the university’s WhatsApp group. Amy’s friend saw the message and helped them connect on Facebook.

The girls corresponded, and then met in the Tbilisi metro.

“Each person has their own smell. When I hugged her, I felt a familiar smell. Then a voice…” – said Ano in a comment to La Repubblica.

The girls, who look remarkably similar to each other, discovered that they were both born in a maternity hospital in the city of Kirtshi in western Georgia. However, their birth certificates showed completely different dates.

At the same time, there were too many similarities between the girls. They liked the same music, both liked to dance and had similar hairstyles. It also turned out that they have the same genetic bone disease – dysplasia.

The girls once again began to ask their parents about it. It turned out that the data in the official birth certificates of the girls were incorrect. The twins were born on June 20, 2002. And their biological mother is Aza Shoni.

Ano Sartania and Amy Khvitia, who are now 21 years old, reunited thanks to TikTok

Amy found a Facebook group called “I’m Looking” (vedzeb), which has over 230,000 members. This group was created by journalist Tamuna Museridze after she found out that she was adopted.

The woman was looking for biological relatives, and instead dug up data about the black market for adoption that existed in Georgia from the early 1950s until 2005.

The group included many mothers who had been lied to that their children had died at birth, and many children who, like Ano and Amy, were trying to learn the truth about their parentage. The girls found their biological mother in the same group.

A young woman from Germany responded that her mother had given birth to twin girls at the Kirti Maternity Hospital in 2002, only to be told they had died. DNA tests showed that the girl from the Facebook group is the girls’ sister. She lived in Germany with their biological mother Aza.

Amy wanted to meet Aza, but Ano was more skeptical. She thought their own mother had sold them. In the end, both girls went to Germany to get acquainted. They saw the biological mother for the first time. The BBC filmed this touching moment – all three hugged and cried.

Aza said that she fell into a coma after giving birth. When she regained consciousness, doctors said her daughters were dead. The “bodies” of the babies were not shown.

In fact, the children were illegally sold to families living in different parts of Georgia. La Repubblica writes that the girls’ biological father, who thought the girls were not his, was involved.

Ano was brought up in Tbilisi, and Emi – in the city of Zugdidi. None of the named families knew that the girls were twins. They also claim that they did not know about the illegality of their actions.

The girls were separated in 2002 and illegally given up for adoption

Ano says that she often had strange visions that, despite the physical separation, could indicate a connection with her sister.

“I always had the feeling that someone was following me wherever I went”she shares.

Nowadays, the sisters communicate constantly, travel together and tell their amazing story on social networks.

In 2005, Georgia amended its adoption legislation and in 2006 strengthened its anti-trafficking laws.

However, many children who became victims of the black adoption market are still searching for their biological relatives.

Read also: New record: in the USA, children were born from embryos frozen 30 years ago. PHOTO

[ad_2]

Original Source Link