Long-Lost Siblings Reunite After Nearly 40 Years Thanks to DNA Test: 'It's Been Incredible'

Mar. 15, 2025

(L-R) Jee Won Ha and Darragh Hannan as children.Photo:MyHeritage

MyHeritage

Two long-lost sisters just had a reunion that was almost four decades in the making.

“We were emotional — crying, laughing, feeling joyful, and a bit anxious,” Darragh, a 39-year-old project manager for a museum exhibits builder, and Jee Won, 38, who operates a knitting and sewing shop, tell PEOPLE in an email.

“Since then, it’s been a similar experience, in the best way,” they say. “We feel comfortable with each other and talk about deep things like our emotions and the impact of our journey, but we also joke around and have fun, laughing and sharing these unique moments together.”

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“We both knew we were adopted at a young age, but it wasn’t until later, around puberty, that we started to wonder more about it,” Jee Won tells PEOPLE, adding that Darragh felt similarly.

For years, their questions remained just that, even as the sisters started trying to learn more about their roots.

Meanwhile, Jee Won was moved to take action after hearing a neighbor’s incredible story.

That neighbor, Kim Haelen, found her long-lost U.S.-based sister, Christine Pennell, through aMyHeritage DNA test, and their experiences became the subject of a 2019 documentaryThe Missing Piece.

“I heard about [Kim’s] story when she found her sister, and it was such an overwhelming feeling,” Jee Won said. “I thought, I’m gonna call her."

Then several years after her own DNA test yielded no results, Darragh received an email from Jee Won.

“I opened my inbox one morning, and there it was: ‘Hey, I think we’re sisters,’ ” Darragh said.

Thirty-nine years later, Jee Won Ha (L) reunited with her sister Darragh Hannan at an airport in Seoul on Oct. 25, 2024.Courtesy of MyHeritage

Courtesy of MyHeritage

“Oh, you’re really small,” Jee Won even tells Darrah in the clip.

Darragh and Jee Won tell PEOPLE that they’re “both very grateful for our lives in the U.S. and Belgium, but there will always be a part of us that wonders what it would have been like to grow up in the places where we were born.”

“Adoption isn’t just about saving a child from their country of origin; it involves rerouting a child’s entire life, which can bring a lot of deep questions and trauma,” they add.

Still, the overwhelming feeling they’re experiencing right now is gratitude.

source: people.com