【Epoch Times, May 28, 2024】(Epoch Times reporter Zhang Ting reports)
Chinese-American twin girls Gracie Rainsberry and Audrey Doering were adopted by two different American families when they were just over a year old. After years of separation, the sisters miraculously reunited in 2017 and have since shared many “firsts” together. Today, they have graduated from different high schools, both serving as the graduation speech representatives in their respective classes.
According to a report from ABC’s “Good Morning America” (GMA) program, earlier this month, Gracie traveled from Washington state to Wisconsin to attend Audrey’s graduation ceremony. Audrey, in turn, plans to go to Washington to attend Gracie’s graduation ceremony.
In a segment aired on GMA on May 22nd (
watch the video here
), Gracie said, “As Audrey said, our situation was not ideal, unlike most twins, but I am happy to be with her on her special day. When I graduate, she will come to Washington too.”
In 2007, two different American families adopted this pair of twin sisters in China when they were 15 months old. At that time, both twin sisters were suffering from heart conditions and underwent heart surgeries upon arriving in the United States.
After being separated, Gracie grew up in Washington state while Audrey grew up in Wisconsin. About a decade later, Audrey’s adoptive mother, Jennifer Doering, became curious about her daughter’s past. She discovered that Audrey had a twin sister through a Chinese researcher, after finding an old photo of the two girls together.
“When I saw that photo, I wanted to know who the other child was desperately,” she told GMA.
Jennifer later found out that Gracie had also been adopted by an American family. She eventually found Gracie’s adoptive mother, Nicole, on Facebook.
In 2017, the sisters met for the first time on the GMA program, with the 11-year-old Gracie and Audrey visibly emotional and tearful upon seeing each other.
A year later, they returned to the GMA program. Gracie said, “Having her (Audrey) is like having another part of myself.”
Despite the distance between them, Gracie said that since their first meeting, they have tried to talk at least “every other day.” They are delighted that they have the opportunity to meet twice a year, celebrate birthdays together, and even travel internationally together.
Now they have turned 18.
“It is obvious that our situation is different from other twins… but we have had many surprising opportunities. We can travel together, experience many firsts, which is special,” Audrey said. “The best part for me is spending time together… seeing how we have matured, but we are still very similar.”
This fall, Audrey will attend Vanderbilt University, while Gracie will attend Eastern Oregon University.
Although both received full scholarships from their respective schools, the education solutions company Sallie Mae gave each of them a surprise of $10,000 on the GMA program towards their university expenses.