Separated at birth, Indonesian twins meet in Sweden

Twins born in Indonesia and put up separately for adoption, have been reunited after finding each other living just 40 kilometres (25 miles) apart, in southern Sweden, three decades later.

Non-identical twins Emilie Falk and Lin Backman -- strangers until last year -- were separated nearly 29 years ago.

According to a DNA test the pair had done two months after reuniting in January last year, and which they shared with AFP, there is a 99.98 percent chance of them being sisters.

A complex string of events led up to that revelation.

Both were adopted from an orphanage in Semarang in northern Indonesia by Swedish couples, but there was no mention in either of their documents of the fact that they had a twin.

When Backman's parents left the orphanage with her all those years ago, the taxi driver had turned around and asked them: "What about the other one, the sister?" and they jotted the girls' Indonesian names down on a piece of paper.

The name helped Backman's parents track down the Falks back in Sweden, and the two families got together a few times when the girls were babies to compare notes.

"They went through the adoption papers, but they didn't think we were very similar and there was a lot in the papers that didn't add up ... And there were no DNA tests back then," Falk said.

Among the discrepancies were different names for the girls' fathers. And although the records showed they had the same mother, the families eventually decided that this too was an error.

The two couples in the end wrote off the idea and eventually lost touch.

Although their parents had told them the story as children, both Falk and Backman later forgot about it. Growing up, neither was interested in information about their biological background, so they never asked.

"But when I got married two years ago I started thinking about family and my adoption, and when I asked my mother she told me this story again, and I decided to look for Lin," Falk said.

She had a name and began searching through a network for Indonesian children adopted by Swedish families, and found her on Facebook.

"I am born on March 18, 1983 in Semarang and my biological mother's name is Maryati Rajiman," Falk said she wrote, and quickly received the reply: "Wow, that's my mother's name as well! And that's my birthday!"

They found they had a lot in common.

They lived only 40 kilometres apart in the very south of Sweden, they are both teachers, they got married on the same day only one year apart and even danced to the same wedding song: "You and Me" by Lifehouse.

"It was really strange," Falk said.

"When Lin called me (with the DNA test results), I remember I was sitting in the car and when she told me I started laughing, because it just felt so strange," she said, adding: "I suddenly started thinking that we shared a womb. It was really strange, but really cool too."

Since then the two have kept in close touch, and have talked about going to Indonesia to search for their biological parents.

There are a number of details, some contradictory, in the adoption papers, including a reference to their father as a taxi driver.

"We are very curious if he is THE taxi driver," Falk said.

Asked if she wished she had found out about her twin earlier, Falk insisted "there's no use in being sad about something I didn't know about. I am only happy to have found her."

Continue Reading... Labels: birth, Indonesian, Separated, Sweden, twins

Fire kills twins, 4, and brothers

8 January 2012 Last updated at 07:19 ET

A police and fire investigation is under way

A 19-year-old man and his three young siblings have died after a fire at a bungalow in Lancashire.

The blaze broke out at the house in Lytham Road, Freckleton, at 23:20 GMT on Saturday.

Reece Smith, 19, four-year-old twins Holly and Ella Smith and two-year-old Jordan Smith were taken to hospital but were all later pronounced dead.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said a woman had also been led away from the scene but was not injured.

'Chaotic scene'

A police spokesman said detectives were keeping an open mind as to what might have caused the fire.

They are now carrying out a joint investigation with the fire service.

The fire affected bedrooms of the house in the village, which is several miles west of Preston.

From the outside there was no apparent damage caused by the blaze, but the scene has been cordoned off.

Several floral tributes have been left near the house.

Phil Cox, group manager for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said as crews were en route they had received calls saying people were trapped inside the property, including a number of small children.

"As soon as the the crews arrived it seemed quite a chaotic scene with a lot of people outside quite distressed," he said.

'Smoke-logged building'

"We sent in six firefighters who rescued four people and also led out one other person.

"We had police officers, fire officers and paramedics at the scene working on resuscitating the people brought out before they were taken to hospital.

"We would like to pass on our condolences to the family.

"There was a reasonable amount of smoke at the time, we were faced with quite a heavy smoke-logged building."

Continue Reading... Labels: brothers, kills, twins