Hey, so...
Today is Saturday, February 23rd, 2013.
And I wanted to share this crazy story that happened to me
a couple of days ago.
My name is Samantha Futerman.
I was born in Busan, Korea, on November 19th, 1987.
And four months later, I arrived at JFK Airport,
where, apparently, all babies don't come from.
We had Matt and then we had Andrew,
and I said, "Okay, we're gonna adopt a girl."
Two years later, we went to Kennedy Airport,
and I didn't get the one with the spiky hair.
Didn't get the one with the spiky hair.
I got the littlest, and she was bald, but she was very cute.
And, yeah, I met my family for the first time,
my mom, my dad and my brothers.
And from that day on, these people were my family.
Not by blood, obviously. I mean, I look, literally, nothing like them.
But I found my way and made my place known.
You had the nightly Titanic sinkings. You used to play the music,
and stand on your bed and throw your dolls on the floor,
'cause that was the water and they were all drowning.
I started performing as a kid in my hometown, Verona, New Jersey.
And then, eventually, after college,
I moved to L.A. to do the whole actor thing.
I went to your okiya weeks ago. They laughed and turned me away.
Please, I did not know.
I've missed you so much!
-You know this guy? -Because I'm Asian?
We don't all know each other, you racist mother--
Wait, I do know this guy.
And somehow, I ended up doing this crazy, fun YouTube video,
with my friend Kevjumba.
If you think your junk's gonna get all up in this,
you're very, very, very wrong.
I was just wondering if you want...
So, please, back off or I...
Fuck it, I'm gonna punch your dick, okay?
-Done. -My dick!
We knew you were dramatic.
You were such a sweet little girl.
So, basically on Thursday, February 21st, 2013,
it was the premier of 21 & OVER.
And I had made plans to go to my friend Lauren's house
to get my nails painted. See?
I look on my phone and there's this message from Twitter. It says...
Hey Sam, my friend Anais sent you a message on Facebook.
Check it, it might be in your spam folder.
I went on Facebook, and I was like, "Okay, weird."
And I didn't see any messages, so I clicked into the friend request.
"Oh, that's... Wait, that's me. That's a picture of me.
Okay, this is strange."
So, I accepted her friend request.
"Hey, My name is Anais.
I am French and live in London.
About two months ago, my friend was watching one of your videos
with Kevjumba on YouTube, and he saw you
and thought we looked really similar, like, very really similar...
Today, he saw the trailer of 21 & Over and told me he saw you again.
I then checked your name on the cast, stalked you a bit,
and found out you were born on the 19th of November, 1987.
I checked more of your videos, which are hilarious,
and then came upon the How it feels to be adopted video
and discovered you were adopted too."
She's also adopted and was born on November 19th in South Korea.
"So, I don't want to be too Lindsay Lohan,
but... How to put it? I was wondering, where were you born?"
She was born in Busan, but her birth certificate says Seoul.
Which is exactly what happened to me.
"Let me know. Don't freak out.
Lots of love, Anais."
I was at home.
I got a text message from Sam saying,
"A girl just messaged me on Facebook and she looks just like me."
At first, I didn't really think anything of it,
I was kind of like, "That's weird."
And then, she sent me a picture. I was like, "Oh, my God."
Then, she sent me, like, "WTF" or something like that.
Then I asked her, "Is she adopted too?"
And she said, "Yes."
And now, it's like, some pieces started forming.
Oh, my God.
And I wrote her, "Are you okay?"
Yeah, dude, I, like, might have a twin sister,
who grew up in France and now lives in London.
That's pretty fucking crazy.
So, I just got home from an audition and I am about to go online
to Facebook and then Skype, and skype
my potential twin sister, which is really crazy.
Are you there? Wanna skype?
Okay, here we go.
Oh, my God. Wait.
I'm sorry, my connection is really bad.
Oh, my God, you're European!
Hi.
Hello.
This is a really weird experience.
Yeah, so weird.
I don't know where to look.
Wait, what did you say?
I don't which little window to look at.
I know, right?
Oh, my God, this is so weird. We're like The Parent Trap.
It's really crazy. Yeah, it's so funny that my friend was watching
the videos of your friend Kevjumba and he just stopped on that...
On the video where we see you punch him in the dick.
He just took a screen-shot and sent it to my Facebook,
and everybody was liking it.
But people were asking me, like,
"What was the video you did on Youtube?"
I'm like, "That's not me." "What do you mean?"
I was like, "No, it's not me."
And then, it was... I was getting really anxious not to be able to talk to you
or, like, to contact you.
So my friends were like, "We can send her Instagram."
And so, we were trying different ways of attracting your attention.
I called my dad. It was his birthday on Thursday.
And I called him, I was like, "Happy birthday!"
And I was like, "Are you sitting down?"
And he was like, "Yeah, I'm sitting. Why? What's up?"
And I was like, "Dad, I'm a twin!"
And he was like, "What are you talking about? You're crazy."
'Cause I'm stupid. Like, I would do stuff like that, like, all the time.
My mom thought it was weird
that I was calling that many times, like 10 times.
And she was like, "What, what do you mean?
Do you think she can be your twin?"
I'm like, "I think so."
I really want to meet you. I wanna meet you, like, now.
Same, I really want to meet you.
Just want to hang out somewhere...
I know, right? 'Cause you're, like, right there, but you're not.
'Cause you're in London.
Oh, my God, I don't wanna go, but I feel like I have...
I really need to go to the loo. But I've been... I drank so much tea.
And I really need to go, but like...
I'm like, "No, I don't wanna go."
Oh, my God.
I have a twin.
A twin.
I'm super excited. I mean, I'm a little nervous, to be honest.
I don't know why. I mean... I guess I know why.
'Cause it's, like, a crazy fucking thing that happened.
Seriously, how weird would it be, though, if you weren't twins?
If we weren't twins, it'd be really weird. It'd be like...
I mean, I think we're twins, like...
So you don't have a doubt in your mind?
I don't have a doubt in my mind.
But, then, all these little things put that,
like, ounce of doubt, you know.
Hang on, I'll turn it around.
I tell you, that's crazy. That is so... That's crazy.
Isn't that weird?
Blows my mind.
Hi.
How are you?
God, you look so similar.
Same freckles.
Yeah, she has freckles as well.
-That's Pierre. -Hi.
-And Camille. -Hello, Sam.
-And Valentin. -Hi.
-And Marie and Jase and Jay. -Hi.
Hey, Sam.
It's not Sam.
You guys are already annoying.
I got in contact with the adoption agency, Holt?
And the last email says,
"Hi, Anais, I have been examining your records.
"No elements is referring to a twin sister.
"And looking at the birth dates, we can see that they are the same,
"and the same city and a lot of similarities.
"So, it's true that we can ask ourselves 'Why?'
"I can help you in your research for your biological parents.
"We have to contact the government agencies
"and that could take some time.
"Do you want to start the research or not?"
They emailed me something similar the other day
'cause I have to give more information.
Can I send the pictures that you sent me of your record to him?
-Yeah, sure. -Okay.
Yeah, because when you went to Korea last year, you went to SWS?
Yeah, we went to SWS. That's how I saw my records,
'cause I only have the pictures of them.
SWS has my records.
Oh, really? So they're not even giving it to you, it's quite strange.
Yeah, it's weird.
Hmm.
Okay, Samantha.
This is my Twins Study Center library.
I've written all these papers about twins.
Twin relationships, twins personality, intelligence.
And I'm very proud to say that I have the entire Bobbsey Twins collection.
Oh, my God. That's awesome.
And this is the whole twin experience.
Makes me wonder how many other pairs are out there.
You would never have found Anais if it hadn't been for the Internet.
-It's amazing. -Right.
If you turn out to be twins, there's gonna be a meeting time.
It's gonna profoundly change your life.
In the event that you're not twins,
it'll probably be a disappointment and a let down for the two of you,
and then, you'll have to decide
the extent to which you want to continue having a relationship.
So, I think you just have to be prepared for that.
Now, just imagine both scenarios in your head
and be prepared for whatever comes and just...
Don't let yourself be disappointed if things don't work out.
And if things work out, just celebrate it to the hilt.
Thank you, really.
My pleasure.
I don't know. I guess I'm nervous. I don't want to mess it up.
I don't want to... It said, "Don't touch inside the card."
And I was like, "Oh, my God, did I do that?"
"What if we're not twins?"
I mean, I don't think it's possible that we're not twins.
It's just kind of weird.
Okay, anyway, I'm hungry.
Let's have dinner.
Let's do the thingee.
Maybe we can eat in front of... What's that?
It's the DNA test, dummy.
Yeah, let's have a quick dinner. You guys can stay with us.
You'll watch us.
Or you can just do your own things if you want to.
Funny.
And then we'll do the test.
I want dinner.
They're so French.
Did you ever see the Instagram I sent you that for, like,
when we were trying to reach you?
No? You didn't?
You never saw that?
No, I never saw that.
Can you read it?
Yes, says, "Hey, Sam, check your Facebook message.
-"Spam box." -Yes.
It was an Instagram.
No, I never saw that.
It was eight weeks ago.
Because we thought that if we were just sending you tweets,
you might think it's a spam.
So, Luke had the good idea saying, "If I write, like, a message,
"it would look real."
Very nice handwriting.
I love you!
Should you leave your computer to rest?
She goes brush her teeth and we do the DNA test?
Oh, my God, you look exactly the same.
Yours is gonna have red wine on it.
No, she brushed her teeth.
I think you go like this.
It seems like it's this big moment of my life
that I'm taking a DNA test, but it's not, really.
It's just, like, Wednesday.
You know? It's just Wednesday.
And I just swabbed my cheek,
and now I'm sending it to Todd to see if I have a DNA match
with a person who lives across the world
and grew up 25 years in France.
Goodbye, fish.
Bye, fish.
Apparently, I had a dream that we went to meet Anais.
We got to the house and there were these, like,
dinosaur exhibits, like at the museum there.
Marie was cooking pasta, but she didn't cook it in boiling water,
she cooked it in room temperature water, garlic and parsley and stuff.
It tasted good, and then Anais came out and she was wearing
these, like, peach pants.
And I was, like, waiting for a hug and she didn't give it to me.
Then we were walking down the street and she was like,
"No, come here. I gotta tell you something."
And as she was walking she looked less and less like me
and she had, like, curly hair
and her face didn't look like mine anymore.
And then, I woke up.
So is Anais still your twin?
In the dream, I don't think that she was.
Sad.
It says, "Hi Samantha, I hope this email finds you well.
"When you have a moment, will you give me a call?
"Or, let me know when it'll be a good time to schedule a call."
Hi, Ben, it's Sam. How are you?
Oh, hi. I'm doing well, how are you?
I'm good.
So, I got an email from the post-adoption worker
who's been working on your case.
We have a bit of an update for you guys.
They did contact your birth mother.
She's denying that she had children
and they pressed her a little further on that about the twin issue,
and, of course, she denied that as well.
So, it sounded like she's not really in a place
where she's able to kind of reconcile these things.
Right.
They tried to go to the birth clinic where you were born,
but it was closed a long time ago.
And the doctor has already passed away.
So, I don't know if you guys are making any progress on the DNA test?
Yeah, we actually just sen it to the lab already.
Okay.
Yeah, it's...
Even though there's so little information,
it kind of fills in a bit of that gap.
But, at the same time, your birth mother had difficult circumstances
and very little support, from her immediate community,
whether it's, you know, her social circle or her family.
You know, one thing you can do is write a letter.
We can send it to them. You can send along some pictures and things.
And a very non-threatening way of putting yourself out there,
and they can keep that in your file
and let her know that she can access that if she wants to.
Okay, definitely. Thank you so much.
Okay, yeah. Thanks, Sam. Take care.
-Bye. -Okay, bye.
So crazy.
It's Anais.
Hi, Snail.
I have to go to work, like, a minute ago,
but I had to tell...
So, the adoption agency called me today,
and he said that they tried to reach out to our birth mother,
but she says... She just denies that she had babies and gave them up.
Oh, okay.
But yeah...
But he called me today and kind of told me that.
-Which is okay, but... -Okay.
Yeah, I wanted to tell you.
Yeah, no, for sure.
It's quite... I feel sorry for her now.
Like...
Yeah.
And that's all they know, like, about her life and everything?
Yeah.
That's what I said too.
I feel bad that she has to, like, hide it.
It's just that I wanna get it over with.
No, it's okay. It's totally cool.
You don't have to look so relieved.
No, but, seriously...
It's just crazy, you know, like, how things happen.
In life, you think...
You know, my mom is really big into saying,
"When God closes a door, he opens a window."
Right now, it's pretty true, you know?
For some reason, I didn't get certain acting jobs and it led me to this one.
So, I better get back to work then.
Yeah.
Then I found her and...
Like, now is the time that I'm supposed to...
supposed to have her, yeah, it's...
-Oh, cool. -Yeah.
I can't wait until you're here and I can tell you, "Come here."
I miss you. It's funny.
I'm excited.
Anais.
I have to pee.
It's crazy, how you can, like,
unconditionally love someone you've never met.
'Cause that's how I feel.
But I don't love my brothers any less.
You know? I don't love my parents any less.
But there's definitely, like,
an unexplainable connection that I have with her.
It's pretty cool.
I guess that's why I'm going to meet her now.
And also, I can't wait to go to Europe and drink a lot of beer.
And eat fish and chips, and meat pies.
London.
Are you excited? You're gonna have two older brothers now.
It's so cool. I always wanted somebody to hit.
'Cause I was... I'm always hitting my friends and they're like fed up.
What's up?
I'm really nervous.
Do you like cooked carrots? I hate cooked carrots. It's like...
I don't like cooked carrot either. Do you like salami?
Yeah.
It's my favorite.
You're in a long distance relationship, right,
-and you Skype someone. -Yeah.
But then when you see them in person for the first time, like, for a time, it's weird.
Yeah, it's still kind of weird.
And I've never even met her, so it's gonna be weirder.
This is crazy!
It's so funny that picture from the festival in your jeans,
I was wearing the same jeans.
So weird.
Same nostrils.
You think we're identical twins?
Yeah.
Don't look upset about it.
Did you buy some alcohol to drink?
I have 345 pounds to last me ten days in London.
You think I can do it?
We're at the airport right now, at the terminal,
and we're going to get on to our plane.
There's Ryan. There's Lisa.
I can't ever complain about anything again,
'cause I'm the luckiest person in the whole world,
for all this shit to be happening, you know?
You can't just give up, if hard shit happens to you,
and, like, crazy things happen,
you just keep going and see where it takes you.
I don't know. Yeah.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
and welcome to London's Heathrow Airport.
The local time here in London is nine minutes past eleven in the morning.
You ready?
I'll never be ready for this.
I don't know.
Hi, James, I didn't know you were here already.
-No one's here yet. -Okay.
Oh, wait, I got to get my stuff.
Thanks, Airbnb.
Whoa!
This is so cool.
Oh, hey, elephant.
This is so cool.
Oh, man, mine.
Yes.
This is awesome.
Anais will be here in about 45 minutes or so.
She's picking up her parents at the train station
and they have to stop by at her parents' hotel first.
And then, it's just her and her mom coming here.
And Marie and Lucas should be on their way now.
Am I gonna to meet them before I meet Anais?
Oh, you guys came straight from the bar.
Oh, my gosh. You made it in good time.
-Oh, my God. -Hello.
-How are you? -Good, how are you?
-Good. -Good to meet you.
Is it weird?
-To see you? -Yeah.
Yeah, really weird.
Two fountains over there.
I can't wait till...
Should I hide somewhere?
Getting freaked out, everyone.
- They're here. - Oh, shit.
They're here.
Sounds good.
I don't know where to go. I feel like I can't get up.
Okay. You sit there.
There's no one downstairs.
-What? -There's no one downstairs.
You're kidding.
Are they at the right address?
You guys, I feel like my heart's racing and I have to poop.
Sorry.
Oh, God.
They're not here together.
You guys are silly.
Coolest dude...
Oh, my God. Hi!
Hi.
I saw you on Instagram.
Hi.
It's so strange.
And she took care of it.
-Hello. -Hi.
I'm sorry.
-Hi. -Hi.
How funny.
Oh, my God!
I feel weird.
You're cheating. In those heels, you look taller.
Okay, that's better.
Oh, my gosh.
Two daughters now.
Yeah.
-Hello. -This is so French.
I feel like I'm at the zoo. Like I'm an animal in the zoo.
Yeah.
We have the same nails.
Yeah, we saw that today.
And we have the same pants and stuff.
I feel weird.
You're taller. I told you.
Not really.
Back to back.
First contact, finally.
Kiss.
It was so weird 'cause everyone was there.
I know, and you're like...
-It's like, "Stop looking at us." -Yeah.
It can be the right and the...
- My left hand. - Yeah.
She looks so familiar to me, you know.
I'm really tired and overwhelmed,
but I'm good.
Are you tired?
Can you guys tell who we are?
Ryan just thought you were Sam.
Yeah.
It freaked me out.
It's nice.
Which one's the Korean one?
I was really dramatic when I was a kid.
And I loved doing plays at school and theater,
and I was always wearing costumes as well.
I was really... I don't know the word in English...
I was really moody and, I had, like, anger management issues.
I was a hot-tempered kid.
Sometimes, when I was a kid, I felt lonely,
but I couldn't explain why.
I don't have any brothers or sisters.
So, I actually don't know how it feels
to have someone in your family about the same age.
I could not describe it.
I would tell my mom, "I'm bored."
I'm like, "I don't know why I'm bored."
And then she would meet one of my friends in the street and she would say,
"Do you want to come up and play a little bit with Anais?"
And they would come, I would be like, "I don't want to play.
"I don't want to see anyone.
"I just feel lonely, but I don't want to play with anyone.
"It's not going to help me feel better."
So, I can't explain that feeling. Maybe it was just missing Sam.
It's sudden if you imagine you are drawing a path,
and different options in your life.
You know, like, "In 50 years, I see myself here and here,
or maybe here and here."
But Sam, it's like diving into a wormhole,
and going to a parallel space.
It has nothing to do with anything you could have ever imagined.
So different.
-Is it working? -Yeah.
It's working.
Okay, excellent, excellent.
-Hello. -Okay.
So I can try to see if I can figure out
who's on the left and who's on the right.
-You think that last one percent confirmation... -Yeah.
But it makes all the difference in the world.
It's the only, like, concrete thing that they have.
I think that's Samantha on the right. Yes, you're pointing to Sam.
Sam is pointing to Anais? Wow.
You fooled me, and I'm pretty good.
So, all right, are you ready for this information?
Yeah.
Okay.
So, I want you to look at each other,
and I want you to give your identical twin sister
a hug and a kiss.
-I feel like we knew that. -Yeah.
-Did you hear it? -No.
You guys, we're not related at all.
-Knew it. -Really?
No.
We're identical twins.
- Identical twins? - Identical?
These girls are identical twins, there's no question about it.
DNA does not lie.
-Cheers. -Cheers.
Yes, my dear?
We have news.
What do you think?
Well, yes, obviously, I think it is yes!
Yes, we are identical twins.
You are identical twins?
Congratulations. When I saw you today, there was no doubt at all.
Wonderful.
Oh, how wonderful.
I'm so happy for both of you and for me too.
Oh, that's great.
I'm not crying.
Oh, Grandma.
Oh, God, that's wonderful.
Now, how can I go into a meeting tonight with red eyes from crying?
You're sisters, aren't you?
Yeah.
Holy shit.
Oh, my God.
So, this is your place?
Yeah, this is it.
Nice.
This is really weird. Like, I feel like I'm dressing myself.
You want to meet my sister?
Hey, you want to meet my sister?
God!
No!
-Say something. -Jay.
No.
That's the American version of "Jay." So happy for you two.
That's insane.
Oh, my God.
I tried to do it and I dropped it after five seconds 'cause I couldn't.
But I French seamed it, so I can't...
No, it's not going to... It shouldn't stretch.
I can just fold it, 'cause this thing folds.
-And then, you can just have it. -Yeah.
Dude, my twin is awesome.
She's so cool.
You guys are so talented, it's really freaking crazy.
These are like the best students at, like, the best fashion school.
It's really awesome.
Do you need any extra wadding in the shoulders on the gray one?
How did it go?
Dragmar and Valeria, F. Juan Manuela tiara.
It's almost over.
Too many models and garments to organize.
You have to run everywhere, make sure nobody loses anything.
Sam was being really helpful.
She helped me with the shoes, and for the fitting and everything.
It's nice.
Anais Bordier.
It was so good.
Anais was amazing I feel so proud.
Congratulations. You definitely need a cocktail.
It was so cool, really.
My parents and my brother get in today,
and my other brother Andrew gets in tomorrow. So stoked.
It's awesome.
The next station is King's Cross St. Pancras.
Yeah, where's Sam? Sam, are you peeing?
-Your parents are here. -Really?
-Did you see them? -No, they just got out of the taxi.
-Did you run away? -Yes.
Just be like, "Hi, Dad." And pat his belly.
Who's this?
-Hi, Dad. -That is Anais.
Oh, my God.
That is Anais.
My God, do you guys look identical.
-It's crazy, right? -This is Samantha.
- Hi. - -Hello, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
I can't believe it.
She's taller.
Great, thanks, Dad.
She's got expressions that Sam does.
And they're both gorgeous.
And I really feel like I know her.
Looking at her facial expressions,
and the little body movements that are also yours,
it's like I know who she is.
I want to spoil her.
I want to take her now and spoil her.
Our families are together, it's so weird.
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
Good morning.
-How's my sweetie pie? -Hey, Dad.
Very European, Dad.
I never thought of Sam as an adopted sister,
it was just a sister.
So, now, same thing with Anais, it's like, she's just a sister.
It's not like another adopted sister or somebody else's adopted sister.
It just, she's another part of the family.
Same as you.
It goes back to that whole "Nature vs Nurture" thing.
And the fact that two people raised completely separately,
in, you know, very different situations are so similar,
and are, you know, almost the same person.
Sam is one of the most important people,
if not the most important person, in my life.
So, now with Anais, you know, even someone not, you know,
growing up in our dynamic just fits right in perfectly.
She's my new sister. It's awesome, you know, I love it.
Wait, do you feel this? Do you feel this? Do you feel it?
She's like a...
She's my favorite sister.
It's...Yes.
I have an American flag vest too.
Hanging out with Anais for the first time, I found out that
she felt that she didn't choose to be adopted.
She was kind of thrown into it.
For her, it was kind of traumatic and, you know, on the playground,
a boy was like, "You don't look like your family,"
and like, "You were given up because your family didn't love you."
And she questioned whether that was true or not.
I never felt that in my life, I didn't...
I didn't know that was a thing. I didn't know that was an issue.
My family's white, my town is white.
But it was never an issue 'cause everyone was really accepting.
But for Anais, being adopted was
kind of a bad thing.
'Cause like, "Well, one person didn't love me
"and my parents couldn't have kids, so they had to get me.
"What if they could have kids? What if they wouldn't have had me?"
And Anais's father was there...
Cheers to my grandparents and my parents
for giving me those big tins of duck and I keep them all the time.
Cheers.
I didn't know because he could've just sounded like,
"Oh, my God, you know what? What a coincidence."
I think his first reaction is, "I watch too much of Youtube."
Clearly. I agree.
But I do, I do watch a lot of videos,
and somehow just landed up on Kevjumba's video.
And I don't even know why I was watching that.
'Cause I've never ever heard of this guy before.
No way.
That was the first time I...
Literally, the first time I saw it was the first time I took the screen shot,
so I saw it and I saw Sam, I was like...
And I paused the video and I was like, "Okay, this is a bit bizarre."
I put it on Facebook.
And I think it wasn't just me, it was Marie, Jase, Max.
It was all of us just freaked out.
It was like, "You're joking. This is not possible."
"Oh, my God, this is Anais,"
and then we looked for the video,
and the video is about a high school girl.
So, my first reaction was, "Oh, she's probably much younger,"
and we just stopped at that, or I just stopped at that.
I was like, "She's probably younger. She looks the same but she's probably 18."
For me, it was impossible that she could be my twin.
Because I knew that I do not have a twin. Because it was written all over my papers
that I was an only child. So I knew she wasn't my twin.
So, if she wasn't my twin, she had to be a half-sibling, or another sibling.
And then I didn't want to know, because, yeah, I didn't want to look at it,
and not get too excited about something like this.
I think it's funny now it's you
'cause, like, I never realized this at first, but, like, being adopted is
different for us 'cause I grew up with brothers and you didn't.
And so it was like that feeling...
Like, I never had that feeling of being lonely,
and you had such a different experience of being adopted.
And, like, contacting family was such a different experience for us both,
'cause it's like you didn't have
the brothers and sisters and I didn't know that, yeah.
I always felt like I was waiting for something to happen.
And I was scared that nothing would happen in my life in a way.
I was like...
I always needed to look for something, like, dream, like,
dream of something, I don't know.
Waiting for something to happen, anything.
But now it feels better. It feels like it's more comforting.
When we're running around together, I feel completely fearless.
And I guess, I'm scared of losing that.
Hey. That was good timing.
It's just really weird settling back into life now.
I have a sister and I really miss her,
and I really want her to come visit and I can't wait for her,
to, you know, get a job and...
I wish so bad that she could get a visa,
and come and work in the States.
That was the craziest trip I'll probably ever go on in my entire life.
Now it's over and now it's going from here.
The situation's crazy, but I'm living it now
and it just feels normal, it just feels like
everything's legitimized. It feels like...
Complete.
I feel like I've known her my whole life.
It was like, yeah, she's like the brightest, the smartest,
like, the most handsome girl.
No, but she's really great.
And it's nice. Yeah. I don't even know how to describe it.
Yeah, no, I really want to be closer to her now, I think.
'Cause we can't go back to each other's lives completely,
now that we've met
and shared... I just want to keep sharing
my things and my life, my everyday life with her.
Yeah, being apart is a bit difficult.
So I really miss her.
Already.
I can't do it.
Are you all right?
That's right. You got to help me look for her.
Okay, she looks like me...
Yes, I know that, Sam.
...but tired.
We're gonna see the similarities and differences between you,
given your circumstances of being separated at birth,
reared in completely different environments,
but yet being genetically related, so...
Samantha was 58 and three quarters and Anais was 59 and a half.
Sorry.
Okay.
Stop!
I'm laying in my bed right now,
and I'm mad because my sister's a jerk,
and steals all the covers in the middle of the night.
Look at her evil face.
We contacted Spence-Chapin and they tried to contact our mother.
And it's actually the second time she's denied having us.
'Cause I tried to find her when I went to Korea last year.
She was saying that we had the wrong person.
That it wasn't her.
"She met the birth father through her relative
and began to live with him from 1985.
They had a two-year-old daughter
and had to support the birth mother's family.
Under such circumstances, she conceived the child
and was unable to raise the child financially.
After all, she referred the child to SWS
for adoption for her better future.
The birth mother didn't want to say about the birth father."
It feels like she gave like two completely different stories.
'Cause the information doesn't, like, match up.
Yeah, with the first...
Maybe she didn't know that she was pregnant with twins.
And then like when they had twins that...
Yeah, probably. But why wouldn't they keep both of them?
One of them.
Like apparently people were doing at the time.
Like, just giving away one child.
Which is strange.
It's so pretty.
Once I got back from London, I met up with this guy, Dan,
who was a friend of Kevjumba's, and he was an adoptee as well.
And he told me about this conference in Korea,
called the International Korean Adoptee Association.
There's over, like, 600 people going and from all over the world,
all Korean adoptees.
I presented very casually to my sister to say like,
"Maybe we should go to this conference.
It's cool. We should go."
And she's like, "Yeah, it'll be cool."
And then it's always devil's advocate.
"Yeah, but if we go, then maybe my parents won't be happy."
Or, "If we go, then I don't know what I'm going to do about work.
'Cause I don't have a job yet."
I can see on her face what she's feeling.
If her cheeks start to get red,
and I know exactly where that feels on my face if I'm feeling a certain way.
So, when she plays devil's advocate, I'm like, "What are you doing?"
"There's something else. There's something missing."
Going to Korea after what had just happened about six months before
sounded like a very...
scary trip.
Because we had no idea what we would find there.
It feels like a huge step to take.
Another huge level.
Also, I thought we might find more information about our birth mother.
And it's going to be a difficult story to take in.
And that it might hurt us.
Whereas, right now, we're so happy.
Do you have that expression as well in English?
The best is the enemy of the good.
If you're always trying to make it better, then actually it's a mistake.
'Cause when you have something that makes you happy,
then it should be enough already.
I think she was scared to face
25 years of this kind of inner burning question,
an inner burning shitty feeling.
I was like, "I want to go and I think it'd be great for you,
and I want you to see the positive and the good side about being adopted.
And the time is now because this conference isn't in Seoul,
in Korea, for another three years, so I think we should go now."
And I was like,
"Shit, am I pushing her into something that she's not ready to do?"
No, stop.
Let's go to Korea.
I just want to see my sister and eat good Korean food right now.
And see Sue.
Sue! Sue!
She was my tour guide last year.
She took me all around Korea with my mom.
-Welcome back. -Thank you!
Korea TV.
Oh, my God!
I couldn't believe it.
Are you serious?
I saw this when Ben told me.
And I couldn't believe it. And I looked it up and it was there.
Oh, my God.
Nothing secret.
So funny.
That's like a full story.
-Yeah, pretty much. -Oh, my God.
Same to American news.
I'm so excited.
Heavy.
This is cool.
What happened?
We're at the wrong hotel.
Hi! You're so short.
Hey, you're wearing heels. You're cheating.
Yeah, I know. I'm so happy to see you.
-You have to eat it with something? -Yeah.
Wrapping sauce.
Definitely you're only nine in that hairstyle.
128, 256... 512 little sizes...
16, sorry, 32. 64. 128. 256...
So cool.
Oh, my God.
There's this really cool place, Tripitaka,
and it has all of the scriptures, the Buddhist scriptures.
It's so beautiful here.
Here, it's like so beautiful and everything,
so it makes you proud of being born in a country with such a history.
But this trip to Korea as an adult, I'm really happy to do it with Sam.
Maybe before I would have said,
"Oh, maybe it's because I needed to go to Korea
to find my origins and discover whatever."
But I think what I was really missing was Sam.
Sam represents so much more than the rest
because we have the same story and we're like blood family.
Hi. How are you?
Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you. -Hi. Nice to meet you.
This is Anais.
The babies.
Oh, my gosh.
The huge teddy. It's so cute.
You were here playing with the toys.
Yeah.
That big teddy bear, that's mine.
Can you maybe explain to me what happened...
Our birth mother, we tried to contact her, and she's denied everything.
Yes.
Hopefully, in the future, she opens her mind
and maybe change her mind and she will contact us.
So she has our phone number, so...
Do you get this reaction a lot from birth mothers?
Sometimes it happens. They're just afraid.
I believe your birth mother is just not ready.
Yeah.
I assume so too.
Do you possibly know why they would have separated twins
or it could have been a mistake even?
We don't know. We were really shocked,
to get to know about this, so...
We have no idea.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
So this is from our lawyer, yeah?
It's like they're at the airport.
It's March 25 that I arrived.
When was yours?
Fifth of March.
So cool, huh?
-Your foster mother is here. -Is she?
-Hi! -Hi!
Hello, Samantha!
How are you? Oh, my God...
-Hello. -Hello.
You're so pretty.
My foster mom, it's funny,
'cause life keeps bringing us back together in a way.
And I really didn't think that that was a thing.
I didn't think it was really possible for me to see her
a year later, you know.
I think the first time I met her, I didn't know what to do.
'Cause I had no idea what to expect.
I didn't know anyone who had gone through it before.
And that's scary. That's always a really scary thing.
And I guess I was trying to tell Anais that as well.
I wanted to help her
and I wanted her to remove fear of doing it.
Thank you.
I was really touched and moved by her actions towards you.
I just wanted to hug her and thank her for, like, taking care of you.
When we were nothing like but just crying babies,
and unable to feed ourselves. You know?
She's really part of the family.
Bye.
Take care.
You've crossed borders and bridges
to find your way once again to Korea.
Welcome back. Thank you so much.
I didn't realize how big of an event it was.
It was really emotional to see everyone together.
You feel like you're a part of something.
Yeah, and just everyone sharing something in common
and connecting with people.
It's so cool to be part of something bigger than just us.
Everyone who is here is happy, I think.
You know you're going to have a lot of fun for a whole week
with people that understand you completely.
And you know that you're in Korea
and that your birth country cares about you as well,
it's really moving.
Yeah, it's amazing.
-You're excited, yeah? -Yeah.
I can tell you're super happy.
Pop.
It'll probably be close to... Oh, here it is.
Post Adoptions Service Center.
One, two, three...
It's cool that Frank's an adoptee from France, isn't it?
-Yeah, that's really cool. -It's like a relief for once, yeah?
So cool.
-Yeah! -Are you ready, Pop?
-Yeah. -Camera's on. Ready?
I think you were Anais.
She says she thought you were me because of the shape of the face.
Because you looked like how I looked when I was a baby.
She's saying if she could have had us both to take care of,
she would have loved it.
It's really cool. Like, everything she remembers.
Yes.
It's really interesting to see how...
Well, to be here in the country.
To understand... Just to see where you were.
Where you came from.
I feel really good
meeting... Well, first, like, finding my twin sister,
then finding my foster mother, finding her foster mother.
It feels like a big family.
For me, it's a proof of love and people caring.
My foster mother took care of me from the second day I was born.
And my birth mother, yeah, if I could meet her,
it would make me very happy, of course.
I would be happy to know what happened, exactly why.
But she doesn't seem like she wants to be...
She doesn't seem like she wants to be contacted.
Here's my address.
Before I used to say that I wasn't born on the 19th of November,
that I was born on the fifth of March, when I arrived in France.
So for me there was no life before,
to me, because I was nothing without my parents.
And... And, yeah.
Pop.
Yeah. Pop.
Oh, I have makeup on.
Yeah, now I see that I existed before as well.
Yeah, it felt like, you know, that you're... I was abandoned,
and so I started living with my parents.
Like, for me, being born... Not being born at the airport, but...
You know, just being when your parents stop wanting you,
and I just realized...
Yeah, coming to Korea, I think I just realized
that people loved me, like, a long time before.
That was nice.
Pop?
Pop.
Happy?
Good.
Pop!
People keep asking us, if we could have been raised together,
if we would have?
And... I...
I say no. I wouldn't change anything.
Because I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be who I am.
And neither would Anais.
I don't know, I'm not sure if I believe in fate.
I know that's a funny thing to say after everything that's happened.
I don't like to think that my life is planned out.
Do you know what she bought? Like, the seaweed snacks.
She bought two big things of them.
Dried, roasted...
Yeah, the roasted seaweed.
She has, like, 30 packages of roasted seaweed.
What?
But it's just comforting to know that life unfolds,
in a way
it's supposed to, I guess.
I have my sister now and I'm happy.
So it's not looking back at what happened. It's moving on.
Thank you for coming back and finding this time with me.
Of course.
I have my parents, I have my foster mom.
I have Anais's parents.
I have Sue, I have my sister.
I have my brothers.
Bye, Sue!
I have like five different types of moms and that's okay.
And I love each and every one of them.
And I love my birth mom too.
I don't know her, and...
Still love her.
Family's what you make of it. There's no definition.
We should tell her that, like,
we're not, like, mad at her.
We, like, care for her.
And if she wants to talk to us, she can contact us
and, like, we love her.
We grew up our entire lives without knowing about each other.
We believe that you are our mother.
We are together now and are both very happy women.
Thank you for giving us the gift of life.
And thank you for giving us the chance to have the best lives possible.
We would love to speak with you one day.
Although we have never met, we love you
and thank you for what you have given to us.
We're not angry that we were raised apart.
We're just happy that we are together now.
If you want to contact us, we're here and willing.
And we hope you have a happy life.
Thank you, love, Anais...
Samantha.
-Pop! -P.S.
Pop!